Duchess Of Cornwall's Writing Hopes For Little Prince George

Duchess Of Cornwall's Writing Hopes For Little Prince George

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The Duchess of Cornwall says she wants to encourage Prince George to learn to read and write.

Camilla, 67, - who is the 17-month-old prince's step-grandmother – also said she cuddles up with her grandchildren to read them bedtime stories, The Sun reports.

The Duchess has five grandchildren: Lola, seven, and three-year-old Freddy from her food writer son Tom's marriage to Sara Buys; and Eliza, five, and twins Gus and Louis, three, from her daughter Laura's marriage to Harry Lopes.

Tom has described Camilla as a hands-on mother whose roast chicken lunches were a family favourite and she is regularly seen snapping up toys for her grandchildren when on official visits.

She said recently: "I just love them all to bits. Obviously, I am being called on more and more for babysitting duties but it's wonderful."

On Wednesday (January 21), Camilla was helping DJ Chris Evans launch a Radio 2 writing contest for children under 13 called the '500 Word Challenge'.

She told pupils at West Park Primary School in Crouch End, North London: "I have a step-grandson called George and while he is too little to enter now, I hope one day he will. Sadly I am at least 100 and far too old."

Radio presenter Chris said: "We couldn't believe our luck when HRH the Duchess of Cornwall invited us to hold our live on-air final in the stunning surroundings of St James's Palace. She's a supporter of the competition and cannot wait to meet and greet this year's 50 finalists on the day."

Last year, more than 119,000 short stories were submitted. Analysis of the 2014 entries found that 'minion' - from the movie Despicable Me - was the most popular of the 50 million words submitted by children.

The longest word was 'pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis' which, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is 'an artificial long word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust'.

The winners will have their stories narrated by a selection of famous names - last year's included Benedict Cumberbatch and Hugh Bonneville.

Children can enter the 2015 contest at bbc.co.uk/500words.

Minion fan like the children who entered the competition last year? You're in luck...

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