Queen Camilla met Dennis the Menace and his dog Gnasher while visiting the National Library of Scotland in central Edinburgh to promote a reading initiative.
The Queen joined comic book royalty as she was brought to life in a cartoon strip rescuing mischievous Dennis the Menace for reading a comic in a library. During a visit to the National Library of Scotland in central Edinburgh, Camilla, 78, was presented with a special comic strip of The Beano.
In it, Dennis the Menace is depicted in a cartoon that features her helping him after his mother abdicates him for wearing headphones. Camilla joked that listening to audiobooks was equivalent to reading because she compared the “battle” of books to “machines.”
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Outlining the “new rules” in the comic, Queen Camilla tells Dennis and his pet dog Gnasher: “Go all in for the National Year of Reading, Dennis! Comics and audiobooks count too!”
Camilla told pupils from Granton Primary School in Edinburgh that she was raised on the Beano, too, when the popular character Dennis the Menace was published by DC Thomson at the age of three. It has been going for a while. Camilla joked, “I wish” when she saw Camilla’s flattering image in the cartoon.
The Beano’s storyboard designer and “director of mischief” Mike Stirling said to the children, “A lot of people don’t know that] comic books and audiobooks count as reading. How good is that, then?” Dennis’ mother is completely embarrassed that he and the Queen are friends.
The Queen, who has patronized the National Literacy Trust since 2010, was present to launch Scotland’s Nation Year of Reading campaign. It is intended to inspire everyone to become a habit of reading, even for just five minutes per day, with the slogan “Go All In.”
The National Literacy Trust published a landmark study in November that concluded that reading now includes everything, from listening to audiobooks to song lyrics.
The Queen asked how many libraries had recently closed and was informed that 54 of Scotland’s libraries had closed since 2014 when she spoke at a round table discussion about the campaign. talking about the national reading initiative. She stated that it is crucial to just get everyone to read once more, especially at this time. The battle between these devices. Restore their books, please.
Following a brief tutorial from Beano Studios artist Nigel Auchterlounie, Camilla was later given the chance to try her hand at drawing Dennis the Menace and Gnasher alongside a group of Clovenstone Primary School students.
The National Literacy Trust’s chief executive, Jonathan Douglas, joked to Auchterlounie, “Are you worried about your job?” and addressed the queen. “I am, yes”! the artist responded. Camilla had a meeting with literacy trust ambassadors and supporters at the end of the engagement, including poet Jackie Kay and Scottish crime author Sir Ian Rankin.
Afterward, Kay said, “The Queen heard me speak at a Burn’s Night in Braemar two or three years ago when I made a joke about how a man wearing a kilt can turn the head of the sincere lesbian.” She recalled and said, “That made me laugh for ages!”
Camilla posed with supporters and children for a picture on the library stairs to celebrate the launch of the national reading campaign in Scotland following brief speeches from David Hayman, director of the National Year of Reading, Amina Shah, chief executive of the National Library of Scotland, and Val McDermid, ambassador for the National Year of Reading.
Camilla posed with Gnasher and a life-sized Dennis the Menace while holding hands with students. Prior to the ceremony’s ceremony in 1956, Queen Elizabeth II presented the Queen with a ceremonial golden key with a tiny book at the head.
The National Library of Scotland celebrated its centenary last year but construction work on the building stalled during the second world war. It was finally built after Sir Alexander Grant, the biscuit manufacturer who helped create the digestive biscuit for McVities, donated £100,000 to establish the National Library Scotland and a further £100,000 to help construct the building.
Camilla complained to Ralph McLean, the library’s curator of manuscripts, in a newspaper clip about Grant’s donations, saying it was “pity that there aren’t more people like Mr. Grant.” According to a new analysis from the National Literacy Trust, reading enjoyment rates among children and young people aged 8 to 16 in the UK dropped to their lowest level in 20 years.
Only one in three (32.7%) reported reading every day, and only one in three (32.7%) did so (32.7%). When only Scotland was taken into account, this figure was even lower, according to recent research that was released to coincide with the Queen’s visit, with only 3 in 10 young people saying they enjoyed reading and only 1 in 6 reading in their free time.
The Queen, the queen’s bookkeeper, is urging more children to do it and to entice adults to do the same. The Queen has worked closely with the charity’s work in various parts of the UK over the past 15 years, with a particular emphasis on those areas where people’s lives are most seriously impacted by poverty and low literacy.
Source: Mirror
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