Queen Camilla's forthcoming BBC documentary exploring how literature can reshape lives was unveiled today at The Queen's Reading Room Festival, held at Chatsworth.
The BBC Arts programme, titled The Book That Changed My Life, follows Her Majesty as she encounters four individuals whose worlds were profoundly altered by picking up a book at a critical moment.
Scheduled to be broadcast on October 14 - pending final schedule confirmation - the film arrives during the National Year of Reading 2026.
The BBC has described the production as "warm, emotional, and full of hope," promising it "explores how reading can lift us, open our minds and, sometimes, change the course of a life."
In a speech this afternoon, the Queen said she created the Reading Room because "I love books and their life-enhancing power and I want to share that love with others" - something that becomes evident in the upcoming documentary.
Fresh details emerged during a festival panel on book clubs, chaired by the acclaimed crime novelist Ann Cleeves.
Among those featured in the documentary is Ian Kirby from Gateshead, who spoke at the festival about his remarkable journey back from despair.
Mr Kirby spiralled into severe depression following a traumatic experience at home, only finding his way out after joining a neighbourhood book club.
It was the autobiography of Gateshead boxing legend Glenn McCrory that proved a turning point, offering him an entirely fresh lens through which to view his own struggles.
"That is the beauty of a book. It can give you experiences you've never experienced, but they can also be an inspiration," he says in the programme.
Today, Mr Kirby has joined the Reading Ramblers, a group that pairs audiobooks with guided walks through Chopwell Wood.
"My confidence is back and I've made new friends, and it's all through the joy of reading," he said.
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Mr Kirby's story is just one of four accounts woven through the film, which also features contributions from the Queen herself.
The BBC has indicated that the documentary will "feature individuals from a wide range of backgrounds who all share one thing - moving stories of resilience and renewal, fostered by reading."
"These stories reveal how books offer salvation, hope, joy, deep connection and fresh perspectives when people need them most," the corporation has said.
Beyond personal testimony, the programme delves into mounting scientific research demonstrating that reading delivers measurable benefits for both physical health and mental wellbeing - a theme increasingly central to public health discourse.
The documentary was first revealed by Camilla in March at a Clarence House reception marking five years of her Queen's Reading Room book club.
"I'm also delighted to announce that we have partnered with the BBC and Blink Films for a major new documentary that will showcase the life-transforming power of books - my father's and my own experience included - for which the cameras are filming here today," she told guests.
Her Majesty's devotion to literature was inherited from her father, Major Bruce Shand, a military historian and published memoirist.
She established The Queen's Reading Room in 2021 during lockdown, driven by what she has called a "lifelong conviction that books make life better."
The charity works to place reading back at the centre of national life, at a time when only half of British adults pick up a book each year.
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