Queen Consort speaks out against censorship of Roald Dahl books

Queen Consort speaks out against censorship of Roald Dahl books as she tells writers not to let anyone ‘curb the freedom of your expression or impose limits on your imagination’

  • Camilla held recepion to mark two years of her reading room initiative
  • Welcomed ‘writers, publishers and book lovers’ to Clarence House 

Queen Consort Camilla has seemingly waded into the ongoing literary debate over Roald Dahl’s publisher rewriting passages of his children’s books, in a speech at Clarence House. 

The 75-year-old today held a reception to mark the second anniversary of Her Majesty’s Reading Room after recovering from Covid. 

Addressing the crowd, Camilla welcomed ‘writers, publishers and book lovers’ to the event and ended her speech with a nod to Puffin’s sensitivity rewrite of certain Roald Dahl passages. 

The Queen Consort encouraged writers: ‘Please remain true to your calling, unimpeded by those who may wish to curb the freedom of your expression or impose limits on your imagination. Enough said.’ 

Her comments come after Puffin hired sensitivity readers to rewrite chunks of Dahl’s texts to ensure the books ‘can continue to be enjoyed by all today’. 

Queen Consort Camilla waded into the ongoing literary debate over Roald Dahl’s publisher rewriting passages of his children’s books, as she welcomed guests to her literary reception

The move has sparked fury among some literary fans including acclaimed writer Sir Salman Rushdie who branded the move as ‘absurd censorship’.

Edits include descriptions of characters’ physical appearances for example removing the word ‘fat’, making some characters gender neutral, and references to the colours ‘black’ and ‘white’ are also said to have been removed.

In her speech Camilla quoted John Steinbeck, who said: ‘I am impelled, not to squeak like a grateful and apologetic mouse, but to roar like a lion out of pride in my profession and in the great and good men who have practised it through the ages.’

Referencing this quote Camilla told authors: ‘Let there be no squeaking like mice about your achievements, but only roaring like a pride of lions.’

In the UK many people have been outraged by Puffin’s sensitivity rewrite of the popular children’s books and have slammed efforts by ‘woke’ sensitivity gurus to rewrite and censor Roald Dahl’s beloved literature, removing ‘offensive’ language, branding it ‘horrific’ and ‘ridiculous’.

Considerable edits have been made to descriptions of the characters’ physical appearances – the new editions no longer use the word ‘fat’, which has been cut from every book, and the Oompa Loompas are now gender neutral.

But the move has triggered a wave of outrage, with 98 per cent of MailOnline readers demanding the best-selling author’s works are kept in their original form.

Some parents have even said that they will be boycotting the updated novels as the changes were branded as ‘absolutely insane’, with one saying: ‘If you’re that easily offended, then stay at home wrapped in bubble wrap.’

The Queen Consort, while not making an outright reference to the censorship, wadded in at the end of her speech to encourage writers to be true to themselves and not let others ‘curb the freedom of [their] expression.’ 

Siding with those against the censorship of the beloved children’s author Camilla said: ‘I would like to take this opportunity to echo that lion’s roar on your behalf – and, of course, to rectify the unaccountable omission of great and good women… ‘ 

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