Queen Camilla remembers her outdated buddy Jilly Cooper as she chats to Salman Rushie at opening of Cliveden Literary Festival
Queen Camilla paid tribute to the late Dame Jilly Cooper as she opened the Cliveden Literary Festival today.
Speaking at the opening of the historic annual event at Cliveden House in Berkshire today, the Queen had the audience in hysterics when she recalled an iconic quip from her old friend and author Jilly Cooper, who died last week.
Referencing the literary National Trust surroundings, the Queen remembered how the late Jilly had attended a party there a few years ago when she uttered an ‘immortal line’.
‘There are few houses and gardens in England that are quite as steeped in literature as this one’, Queen Camilla said today.
‘I understand that it is even possible to order Ian Fleming’s ‘Vesper Martini’ at the bar – a drink that was a favourite of the late, much-missed Dame Jilly Cooper.
‘She came to a party here a few years ago, when, I hope, she uttered her immortal line, ‘I’m going to get absolutely plastered tonight, darling. I love you so much, I want to see two of you’.
‘Dear Jilly…how we’d love to have seen just one of you here with us today’, she said.
The Queen went on to refer to the illicit ‘Profumo affair’ which also took place at Cliveden back in the 1960s, when the house provided the meeting place and backdrop for an extra-marital affair between Tory minister John Profumo and model Christine Keeler.
Old friends Queen Camilla (pictured left) and the late Dame Jilly Cooper (pictured right) on March 25 earlier this year
The Queen was spotted chatting to British-Indian author Sir Salman Rushdie (pictured left)
Queen Camilla (pictured) speaking at the opening of the Cliveden Literary Festival today
‘Cliveden was, of course, also the setting for a rather notable high-society scandal that made even Dame Jilly’s plots look restrained’, she laughed.
‘Perhaps we should draw a polite veil over that particular chapter, and turn instead to the words of my husband’s great great great grandmother, Queen Victoria, visiting her close friend, The Duchess of Sutherland.
‘In her journal of 3rd April 1858, she wrote of Cliveden, ‘It is a perfection of a place’.
‘Certainly, I can think of no finer setting for this weekend’s events, which might best be described as a ‘perfection of a Festival’…and one that I am delighted to declare open!’
The Queen was also spotted chatting to British-Indian author, Sir Salman Rushdie at the festival’s opening day today.
Sir Salman, who was stabbed on stage in 2022 in New York, will speak at the historic festival alongside the likes of Richard E. Grant and Ian Rankin.
Salman published the controversial novel The Satanic Verses in 1988, which long made him the target of death threats for its portrayal of the Prophet Muhammed.
Established in 2017, the festival hosts speakers, lectures and encourages political debate, taking place across Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 October this year.
The Queen gave a nod to the hosts and ‘literary stars’ in attendance for Cliveden’s eighth year running the festival.
She said: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, it is a huge pleasure to be with you for the 8th Cliveden Festival, in the midst of a veritable galaxy of literary stars.
‘I always wanted to attend this Festival since it was founded in 2017, so I’m more than delighted to be here today!
‘The unique mix of lively but respectful conversation, magical location and inspirational speakers has ensured that it has swiftly become part of the artistic landscape of our country.
‘In short, thanks to founders Andrew Roberts, Natalie Livingstone, Catherine Ostler and Simon Sebag Montefiore, here at Cliveden we are connected with history, and with each other, through our mutual love of books.’
The Queen has long been an advocate of reading and promotes literacy through her charity, The Queen’s Reading Room, and is also a patron of the National Literacy Trust.
