The online Reading Room features the Queen’s personal recommendations, which include Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.įittingly for a festival held in the former palace of Henry VIII, the day included a tribute to Hilary Mantel, whose Wolf Hall trilogy retold his reign through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell. The festival is part of the Queen’s Reading Room initiative, a literary charity launched in 2021 with a mission “to help more people find and connect with books which enrich their lives and turn them into lifelong readers”.
“I think she would say, ‘If you’re performing for a member of the Royal family: keep it clean,’” Parris said. Persuasion and an Odd Occasion became a Regency farce involving a spirited young lady with a hint of Elizabeth Bennet, a handsome suitor in the style of Captain Wentworth, and a garden party involving limbo dancing and vodka jelly.Ĭast members included Rachel Parris, the comedian, who was asked beforehand what advice Austen would have offered for the occasion. “I can’t stress enough that we haven’t seen it,” they told the audience.
Her Majesty was invited by the cast of Austentatious, a West End comedy show, to suggest a scenario for their performance at the Queen’s Reading Room Festival, which took place at Hampton Court Palace.Īs the show is entirely improvised, the cast only learned of the title when they opened a golden envelope on stage containing the royal suggestion. Not only that, but she was able to devise a brand new Austen title: Persuasion and an Odd Occasion.
When the Queen launched her inaugural literary festival featuring the work of her favourite authors, she was sure to include Jane Austen.
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