New photograph marks Queen's 79th birthday
Buckingham Palace has released a new portrait of Queen Camilla to mark her 79th birthday, coinciding with the launch of a nationwide children's literacy project.
New photograph marks Queen's 79th birthday
Buckingham Palace has released an official portrait of Queen Camilla to mark her 79th birthday on July 17, 2026. The photograph, taken last month in the State Drawing Room of Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland, shows the Queen wearing a blue Fiona Clare frock. She accessorized the outfit with a blue agate and 18-carat yellow gold Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet and a diamond and sapphire butterfly brooch that was presented to Queen Elizabeth II at the Birmingham Spring Fair in February 1977.
The portrait was captured by royal photographer Chris Jackson, who also took the Queen's 78th birthday image. While the current photo was set in Northern Ireland, last year's portrait featured the Queen at her private residence in Wiltshire, Ray Mill, where she was pictured with her rescue dog, a Jack Russell-cross named Moley.
To celebrate the occasion, the Queen announced a new project to support children's literacy. In partnership with the National Literacy Trust, every Year 6 and P6 child in the UK, including homeschooled equivalents, will be gifted a special edition of the book Impossible Creatures
by author Katherine Rundell this Christmas. The initiative, nicknamed The Queen’s Christmas Present
, is part of the National Year of Reading 2026.
Each copy of the book will feature a royal stamp on the cover and a personal message from the Queen. In the note, she describes the book as a brilliant fantasy that will introduce you to a host of mythical friends and terrifying enemies
and expresses her hope that children will love it as much as I do.
The program aims to address a decline in reading for pleasure among children. A 2026 survey of 125,375 UK children and young people aged 5 to 18 revealed that enjoyment of reading in free time drops from 47.7 per cent among eight to 11-year-olds to 33.2 per cent among 11-18-year-olds.
Katherine Rundell, an award-winning author and National Year of Reading ambassador, stated that reading provides creative imagination, intellectual freedom, critical thinking, ethical compassion, good jokes, delight in great ideas
and argued that books will be the strongest and sharpest tools
for the current generation to build a future.
The Queen’s commitment to literacy is long-standing. She has been a patron of the National Literacy Trust since 2010 and also supports BookTrust and Coram Beanstalk. In January 2021, during the Covid-19 lockdown, she founded the Reading Room book club, which transitioned two years later into a registered charity called The Queen's Reading Room. Regarding the value of reading, the Queen previously said:
"If you learn to read, however difficult your life is at the time, you can pick up a book and you can escape. You can laugh, you can cry, it just takes you out of the real world, and it gives you a different dimension to life."
Queen Camilla, via Express
Her recent literary engagements include an audience earlier this month at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh with author J.K. Rowling to discuss young people's access to books. She also visited youngsters in Ashdown Forest recently to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1926 publication of the first Winnie the Pooh book.
The birthday marks a period of high activity for the Queen, who completed 228 engagements in 2025. Her recent schedule included a US state visit with President Donald Trump in April and a day of engagements in Dorset on the eve of her birthday. In Dorset, she joined King Charles at the Hall & Woodhouse Badger Brewery, which celebrates its 250th anniversary next year. The visit occurred the day after England's 2-1 semi-final loss to Argentina in the World Cup.
The Queen has also provided support for the King following his cancer diagnosis in 2024, for which he is still receiving treatment. Last week, she was present during a secret reunion at Highgrove where the King met with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Prince Archie, and Princess Lilibet.
Prince William and Kate shared the official portrait on social media with a message Wishing Her Majesty the Queen a very happy birthday!
The Queen, born Camilla Rosemary Shand in London on July 17, 1947, married King Charles in 2005 after they first met at a polo match in 1970. She was officially crowned at Westminster Abbey in 2023. She previously married Andrew Parker Bowles, with whom she has two children, Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes.
