‘Today’: Jenna Bush Hager & Queen Camilla Bond Over Shared Love of Reading

Jenna Bush Hager followed up her interviews with the four former living presidents by chatting with another important global figure.

Following Today‘s Wednesday, April 29, episode, Bush Hager joined Queen Camilla at the New York Public Library for a special event celebrating literature. In the interview, which aired during Today‘s Thursday, April 30, episode, Bush Hager recalled that it was their second time meeting each other.

“It’s been since 2005,” she noted, to which Camilla responded, “It is. The first trip to America.” Camilla and her husband, King Charles III, took their first trip to the U.S. in 2005, during which they joined former President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush for a special dinner. In attendance at the event were Bush Hager and her now-husband, Henry Hager.

“I love it, that we can be back together…” Bush Hager began. Camilla added, “And loving books.”

Charles and Camilla are currently in the U.S. for a special visit celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary. “It’s been really good fun, but we have moved quite fast,” Camilla said of the pair’s visit so far. “But it’s been wonderful, and everybody’s been very kind and welcoming. It’s always a pleasure to be here. It’s always lovely to be back in New York.”

Camilla’s New York Public Library event was hosted by her book club, The Queen’s Reading Room, which she launched in 2020 during the pandemic. During the conversation, Camilla explained how her father, Bruce Shand, inspired her love of reading.

“He was wonderful. He used to sit at the end of our beds every night and read us these incredibly exciting stories, some of them quite frightening,” she quipped. “[We’d put] pillows over our head, but he just gave us this incredible interest.”

Related

'Today's Jenna Bush Hager Spills Details on Her 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' Cameo

At Wednesday’s event, Camilla read Winnie-the-Pooh to a group of local children, as well as completed the library’s collection of Winnie-the-Pooh collectibles with a figurine of Roo the kangaroo. Bush Hager, meanwhile, hosted a panel on the importance of reading with authors Min Lee and Harlan Coben, and the event was attended by celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Anna Wintour.

Bush Hager also got to introduce Camilla to the event’s attendees. “I am so thrilled this afternoon to introduce a great friend for all of us who love literature, and exactly the kind of friend we all wish could be a member of one of our book clubs,” she said in a clip from the event. “Please welcome Her Majesty, Queen Camilla.”

Addressing the audience, Camilla stated, “As many of us have long suspected, books really are good for us. They also have a magical way of bringing people together with their ability to transcend any barrier.”

Bush Hager wrapped up their interview by asking Camilla for her hopes for the American people ahead of the 250th anniversary. “Well, I’d like to say, keep reading,” she shared. “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.”

Bush Hager — who launched her own book club, Read With Jenna, in 2019 — suggested, “Let’s work together.”

TODAY / NBC News

Back in Today‘s Studio 1A, Bush Hager revealed that her interview with Camilla has been a long time coming. “We had an interview planned in 2021 that was canceled because of reasons,” she told her co-hosts. “And now, I got to be with her in New York at a place that is so sacred for readers, for both of us.”

Sharing more comments about Camilla, Bush Hager stated, “She is lovely and very hilarious, and also has this really deep and abiding passion for books. Her non-profit is doing such incredible work.”

Today, Weekdays, 7am, NBC