Queen Camilla Makes a Hilarious—and Relatable—Vacation Confession

Queen Camilla wearing a pink lei and white dress laughing sitting in a chair.

Like anyone else, the Royal Family enjoys a good escape from reality. From Mustique to Necker Island to Kenya, the royals have enjoyed plenty of relaxing holidays—and according to Queen Camilla, there's one activity that she only really gets to indulge in when she's away from home.

During a ceremony for the BBC 500 Words awards—held at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, March 6—The Queen made a candid confession about her own reading habits. Although Queen Camilla is known as an avid reader and even launched her own virtual book club and charity called The Queen's Reading Room, she admitted that she doesn't often have the time (or energy) in between royal duties.

When asked if she still finds time to read as Queen, Camilla (per the Express) quipped, "I do when I have a holiday." The Queen continued, "I do try occasionally to read at night but I read two pages and fall asleep and have to start again."

The Queen's Reading Room founder might not always be able to fit reading into her busy schedule, but she often speaks out about literacy and holds events on behalf of literacy organizations.

Queen Camilla admitted she doesn't often have time to read. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Thursday's ceremony honored the U.K.’s most prestigious children's writing competition, which is supported by Queen Camilla. Per Buckingham Palace, the competition "encourages children of all abilities from across the United Kingdom to write without fear of spelling, grammar or punctuation errors."

The Queen wasn't the only famous face at the event, as she was joined by celebrity readers including The Crown star Olivia Colman.

As for her favorite beach reading destinations, Queen Camilla's son Tom Parker Bowles shared some stories about his royal mom and how she "loves traveling" with the Sunday Times.

"I haven’t flown with my mother for years, but when my sister and I were young it was always British Airways in economy" he told the publication. "My mother loves walking and I love walking, so we just wander off together," the food critic shared. "She hasn’t changed at all over the years: if you give her the sun and a book, she’s perfectly happy."