The Queen hosts a reception for Booker Prize finalists
Published
Her Majesty The Queen has hosted a reception to celebrate the Booker Prize 2025 and the newly announced Children’s Booker Prize.
The reception, which was attended by this year’s shortlisted authors, judges and supporters of the prize, took place the day after the Booker Prize ceremony during which the 2025 winner was announced.
The Booker Prize is the leading literary award in the English-speaking world and has rewarded and celebrated world-class talent for over 55 years.
The shortlisted titles and authors for this year’s prize are: Flashlight by Susan Choi, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai, Audition by Katie Kitamura, The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits, The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller and Flesh by David Szalay.
The Queen is well known for her work on literacy. Her Majesty has supported The Booker Prize since 2012, attending its award ceremonies and hosting receptions for shortlisted authors.
Over the years, Her Majesty has visited schools, libraries, and championed workplace reading schemes; she is Patron of several organisations which promote and support literacy, including the National Literacy Trust, First Story, Coram Beanstalk and BookTrust.
In 2021, Her Majesty launched The Queen’s Reading Room (originally The Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room), a charity working to celebrate and promote the power and benefits of reading. Since its conception, The Queen’s Reading Room has launched a Podcast and an annual Festival.
