500 Words final 2019

Today, The Duchess of Cornwall attended the live broadcast of the final of BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words creative writing competition at Windsor Castle.

Launched in 2011, 500 Words invites children aged 13 and under from across the UK to write an original story using no more than 500 words. This is the fifth year that The Duchess has supported 500 Words. Her Royal Highness hosted the competition’s final in 2015 at St. James’s Palace, and has been an Honorary Judge for the competition since then.

The competition received almost 113,000 entries this year. The six winning entries were read out live on air by celebrity readers, including Michael Sheen, Sandi Toksvig and Konnie Huq.

The prize for gold winners was the height in books of the competition’s founder, Chris Evans. Silver winners won Her Royal Highness’s height in books, and bronze winners received their own height in books.

Speaking at today’s event, The Duchess of Cornwall said:

Today we celebrate the incredible imagination and talent of every one of you who sent in a story. Your writing also celebrates the richness and variety of the English language, using what the Anglo-Saxons called ‘the word-hoard’ – your stories sparkle and ignite. And I must add that it has been a fascinating and, as always, a virtually impossible task to choose the winners…

The Duchess of Cornwall is an avid reader and is passionate about literacy. Her Royal Highness is Patron of a number of literary charities including the National Literacy Trust, BookTrust, Beanstalk and First Story.

After the Awards Ceremony, which also included live performances by Tom Walker, Busted, and The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda, The Duchess met competition winners, finalists and their families at a reception.