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Duchess of Cornwall's favourite hobby was inspired by her father

Camilla shared a tribute on Instagram

camilla reading
Danielle Stacey
Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
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The Duchess of Cornwall paid tribute to her father as she appeared in a new video for her online book club.

Camilla, 73, who launched the Duchess of Cornwall's Reading Room last month, said her father Major Bruce Shand's love of reading inspired her own hobby.

She said: "I think it certainly came from my father, he was probably the best-read man I've come across, anywhere. I mean, he devoured books".

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She continued: "And so he read to us, as children. He chose the books and we listened.

"And I think… the love of books was ingrained in us, because, you know, it was there from such an early age."

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camilla bruce shand© Photo: PA

Camilla with her father Major Bruce Shand in 2003

War hero Major Shand, who died in 2006 at the age of 89, was a strong source of support for Camilla and she previously described him as a "brilliant storyteller" who "read to us each night and transported us into different worlds".

He was awarded two Military Crosses during the Second World War and was also captured and became a prisoner of war.

reading room books© Photo: PA

Camilla's first reading recommendations

Last week, Camilla hailed a "renaissance of reading" during the coronavirus pandemic, once people had got over the initial shock of being "locked down, locked up, locked in".

The Duchess shared her first four reading recommendations for her online book club in January, which were Dame Hilary Mantel's The Mirror And The Light, William Boyd's Restless, Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shafak.

Camilla has been winning praise for her online book club and has shared an array of cosy images on its Instagram account, including a new portrait of the Duchess reading in her sitting room at Highgrove House, taken by Jennifer Pattison.

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