The Queen has spoken with the TODAY show on the American channel NBC, describing the trip as “wonderful” despite its fast pace.

Queen Camilla has described the US state visit as (Image: NBC/TODAY)

Queen Camilla has described the first three days of her and the King’s state visit to the US as “good fun” in an interview with an American news network. Her Majesty chatted to broadcaster Jenna Bush Hager during her visit to the New York Public Library on Wednesday afternoon.

The Queen, in a navy blue crepe silk dress and coat by Fiona Clare, with a Britannia red, white and blue brooch that belonged to the late Queen, joined a reception hosted by The Queen’s Reading Room at the iconic venue in the Big Apple to celebrate the joy of reading and the power of storytelling. Some 100 guests, including actress Sarah Jessica Parker, Gyles Brandreth and authors Harlan Coben and Min Jin Lee, gathered to celebrate the literary, publishing and cultural worlds in both the UK and US.

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In an interview that aired on Thursday, the TODAY co-host said: “You’re here on this historic visit, 250 years of our country.” The Queen replied: “That’s extraordinary.” Asked how her trip has been, the Queen replied: “It’s been a whistle stop. It’s been really good fun. But we have moved quite fast.”

“You’ve been to a lot of places, to quite a few,” Jenna commented. “We have, but it’s been wonderful,” Camilla replied. “And everybody’s been very kind and welcoming. It’s always a pleasure to be here. Always lovely to be back in New York.”

When asked what her message to Americans is upon the 250^th anniversary of America, Camilla said “Well, I’d like to say, keep reading. I think it’s very important, and you know, specialist statistics are showing reading is falling in children. We’ve got to find a way of bringing it up.”

The Queen reflected on how her charity, The Queen’s Reading Room, had started as an online book club during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. She shared a list of books due to her strong belief that reading has the power to improve wellbeing and provide an escape from day-to-day life.

“We’re all sitting there, twiddling our fingers, not quite knowing what to do, and I just gave eight of my favourite books to a local newspaper. Bingo,” Camilla said. “All these people write to me all over the world, so we thought, why not try and take it a step further?”

The charity has evolved into a podcast and now reaches 180 countries.

Queen Camilla chatted to Sarah Jessica Parker (Image: Getty)

In her speech at the event, the Queen described how her father inspired a love of reading in her as a child, she said: “Indeed, the first Americans I knew and loved were the characters I met in my treasured children’s novels: Little Women, What Katy Did, Charlotte’s Web… I knew, even then, that books are the best friend you can have – in good times and bad.”

The Queen was asked about the influence of her late father, decorated British Army officer Major Bruce Shand, on her love of reading in the TODAY interview.

“Oh, but he was wonderful,” she said with enthusiasm. “He used to sit at the end of our beds every night and read us these incredibly exciting stories, some of them quite frightening, pillows over our head, but he just gave us this incredible interest.”

One of her favourite books growing up was A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh, and she read an excerpt to local children during the engagement yesterday before reuniting the Roo bear with the rest of the 100 Acre Wood family of toys.

The original Roo toy had been missing from the collection since the library acquired it, so the Queen gifted a replacement soft toy to complete it.