Queen Camilla has honoured the talented teenage winners of the world's oldest international schools' writing contest, the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition, during a prestigious ceremony at St James's Palace in London.
A Royal Celebration of Young Literary Talent
The King's consort hosted the presentation ceremony where she celebrated what she called the 'incurable itch for writing' that drove the young participants to excellence. The event saw an impressive gathering of celebrities including singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, former Spice Girl Geri Horner, and acclaimed children's author Dame Jacqueline Wilson, who all participated by reading the winning entries and runner-up pieces.
Addressing the assembled young essayists, Queen Camilla stated: 'All of you here know all about the 'incurable itch for writing' and you know exactly what you are going to do with it – you have put it to excellent use, conjuring up people, places, myths and magic to describe, 'Our Commonwealth Journey'.'
Global Reach and Remarkable Participation
The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS), which has been running the prestigious competition since 1883, received an astonishing 53,434 entries this year from 54 Commonwealth nations. Janet Cooper, chairwoman of the RCS, described this year's participation as 'truly remarkable'.
Queen Camilla highlighted the global nature of the entries during her speech: 'And in so doing, you have taken your readers on our own travels, from Namibia to New Zealand, from Pakistan to Papua New Guinea, from St Lucia to India, opening our eyes to life in every part of the globe.'
Meet the Winning Writers
The competition crowned exceptional young writers from across the Commonwealth. In the junior category, Vivaan Agarwal, 14, from Jaipur, India was named the winner, while the runner-up was 14-year-old Lakshmi Manognya Achanta from Singapore.
For the senior category, Kaira Puri, 17, from New Delhi claimed the winner's title, with Pandora Onyedire, 17, from Lagos in Nigeria being named runner-up.
The Queen expressed confidence in the winners' futures, stating: 'As our Commonwealth continues on its remarkable journey, I am certain that each one of our brilliant finalists has an exciting future ahead of you, using your literary skills to express your concerns and ambitions, to make the unknown accessible and to fill us with hope for the days to come.'
Political Support and Celebrity Encounters
House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle was among the distinguished guests, having previously given the winners and runners-up a tour of the Commons earlier in the week. He expressed strong faith in the younger generation, saying: 'They are the next generation who will deliver, the Commonwealth is safe in their hands – I genuinely mean that, they are the inspiration for the future.'
The event also featured memorable interactions between established artists and the new generation of writers. Geri Horner shared how acclaimed author William Boyd had mentored her when she began her writing journey, recalling: 'He helped me with my first novel. I went up to him and said 'would you mind reading my first manuscript?'' She described his advice to rewrite her work in third person and past tense as a 'game changer'.
Joan Armatrading offered encouragement to aspiring young writers, praising the competition winners as 'brilliant' and advising: 'If people are thinking 'I'm 14, I have a good imagination, I really want to write' – just do it.'
The ceremony reinforced the enduring importance of literary expression across the Commonwealth and highlighted the organization's ongoing commitment to nurturing young writing talent through one of the world's longest-running educational competitions.
