Favourite books of the royals – including the classic Princess Kate reads to her kids

Kate Middleton treated fans to a sneak peek inside Kensington Palace during the Coronavirus lockdown – including her impressive Penguin Clothbound Classics collection. Titles like Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde could be seen on the Princess’ desk, illustrating her love for classic literature. 

As part of World Book Day, Kate also shared her favourite children’s books with The Queen’s Reading Room, Queen Camilla’s charity that aims to make literature more accessible. Amongst her top picks was The Owl Who Was Afraid of The Dark by Jill Tomlinson, which she has now passed down to her own kids.

“I loved this book as a little girl,” Kate wrote. “Listening to my own children reading it has brought back so many wonderful memories”.

The Owl Who Was Afraid of The Dark by Jill Tomlinson, £6.99 / $7.99

Founder of The Queen’s Reading Room and a known book lover, Queen Camilla has no shortage of recommendations. The Queen is a big fan of Elizabeth Jane Howard’s The Cazalet Chronicles, which she calls “incredibly evocative” and notes that “every reader will find at least one character who seems almost eerily like them”.

Also amongst Camilla’s top books is The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain, a Parisian love story she calls “utterly seductive”. As part of her charity, the Queen also picks four favourite books for every season each year, so be sure to check out her archive of seasonal reads.

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain, £8.95 / $14.96

King Charles shared five of his favourite books with The Queen’s Reading Room, and they all look incredibly interesting. His Majesty loves the book Along the Enchanted Way by William Blacker, which he describes as “a deeply moving account of a fast-disappearing way of life and culture in Transylvania, a rare and uniquely special corner of Eastern Europe”.

Along the Enchanted Way by William Blacker, £11.39 / $19.69

The King is also a big fan of Robert Harris, who he calls “one of the most captivating of storytellers”, and Lustrum is one of his top picks by the novelist, labelling it as a “brilliantly imaginative combination of history and fiction” and an “irresistible masterpiece with a warning from history”.

Lustrum by Robert Harris, £9.19 / $17.23

Though some of the Wales’ children may have outgrown this children's classic now, Prince William previously revealed that one of his kids’ favourite books is The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

The Prince previously met the creative duo at a Tusk Trust event at Kensington Palace, saying, “I know who you are. It’s a big hit in our household, The Gruffalo”.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, £4.28 / $8.36

Meghan’s Mirror compiled some of the Duchess of Sussex’s favourite books that she’s talked about, and there’s some seriously great looking reads in here. One of Meghan’s favourites, which she included on her reading list for The Tig in 2016, was The Motivation Manifesto by Brendan Burchard, which she called “a must-have for being the very best version of yourself".

The Motivation Manifesto by Brendan Burchard, £12.32 / $13.32

Meghan has also posted about Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington on her Instagram, which chronicles the former model’s influence on fashion, as well as In Vogue: An Illustrated History of the World’s Most Famous Fashion Magazine by Alberto Oliva,‎ Norberto Angeletti and‎ Anna Wintour.

In Vogue: An Illustrated History of the World’s Most Famous Fashion Magazine by Alberto Oliva,‎ £36.98 / $60.86

In his memoir Spare, Prince Harry revealed one of his favourite books of all time that he first read while studying at Eton College. According to the Daily Mail, Harry wrote that he enjoyed the classic novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, calling it a story of “friendship, loyalty and camaraderie”. 

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, £7.85 / $10.79

At the opening of the bookstore Godmothers, Meghan reportedly also shared a few of her family’s favourite children’s books that her and Harry love to read to their kids, which included Stellaluna by Jannel Cannon and Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird.

Stellaluna by Jannel Cannon, £8.11 / $10.54

Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird, £4.02 / $11.39

The late Queen Elizabeth II was a lifelong bookworm who had a huge influence on literature, both as a monarch and a reader. In a heartwarming retrospective, Penguin Books wrote that the Queen’s favourite book as a child, according to her governess, was Moorland Mousie, a collection of short stories that followed the life of a pony.

Later in life, the Queen also became a big fan of detective novels, and was a big fan of PD James’ work. She also loved James Herriot’s popular series All Creatures Great and Small, and reportedly told the author that his books were the only ones that had ever made her “laugh out loud” over a lunch at Buckingham Palace.

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot, £11.34 / $10.45