The Book That Changed My Life

Queen Camilla explores the transformative power of reading by meeting four remarkable people and hearing their stories, in a powerful new documentary from BBC Arts to mark the National Year of Reading 2026.

Warm, emotional, and full of hope, the film explores how reading can lift us, open our minds and, sometimes, change the course of a life.

The Queen also reflects on her lifelong love of literature, sharing the childhood experiences that first sparked her passion for reading and the comfort she still finds in books. These include personal recollections of her father, Major Bruce Shand, and his experience being held in a German prisoner-of-war camp; when reading reinforced a lifelong enthusiasm for the written word which he later imparted to his daughter.

The Book That Changed My Life (1x60’) is a Blink Films production for BBC Two and iPlayer, produced in partnership with The Open University and in collaboration with The Queen’s Reading Room. It was commissioned for BBC Arts by Suzy Klein and the Commissioning Editor is Amanda Goodman. The Executive Producer for Blink Films is Dan Chambers, and the Director is Toby Trackman, Director of Royal Television Society’s award-winning BBC Arts film, The Last Musician of Auschwitz.

Publicity contact: CB