In a scene that could’ve been straight out of “Sex and the City,” Queen Camilla met Carrie Bradshaw at the New York Public Library’s main branch Wednesday.
During the Manhattan leg of her whirlwind East Coast tour with King Charles, Camilla, 78, was chummy with actress Sarah Jessica Parker as they toured a specially curated selection from the NYPL’s America250 collection.
The pair first met last November when Parker, 61, visited Clarence House in London for a reception hosted by Camilla to celebrate the 2025 Booker Prize, the prestigious literary award for which Parker served as a judge.
On Wednesday, Camilla and Parker, accompanied by NYPL president Dr. Anthony Marx, were shown books and documents with ties to both the UK and the USA — including a copy of the Declaration of Independence, a plan of New York by British Army cartographer John Montresor from 1775, and an etching of the protest against the bill to repeal the American Stamp Act, annotated by Benjamin Franklin.
There was also a letter from English author Jane Austen to a pal celebrating the sale of her novel “Pride and Prejudice.” Camilla was especially wowed to see an early copy of “Now We are Six” by A.A. Milne, author of the original Winnie the Pooh books.
“Oh! Favorite, favorite, favorite!” enthused the queen, as she was told the book contained some of the first drawings of Roo the kangaroo, by illustrator E.H. Shepard.
Since 1987, the Fifth Avenue library has been home to the stuffed animals — Winnie-the-Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga and Tigger — that once belonged to Milne’s son, Christopher Robin, and inspired the book characters. But the original Roo was long lost, according to the NYPL website, in an apple orchard.
In a symbolic gesture, Queen Camilla presented the library a handcrafted replacement, created in the UK by toy manufacturer Merrythought.
Speaking at a reception attended by Vogue’s queen, Anna Wintour, Parker — whose “SATC” character famously was jilted at the library by Mr. Big — said of Camilla’s visit, “It’s great for all New Yorkers. We have an opportunity to talk about our libraries and talk about literacy. I know that the queen has spent a great deal of time focusing on that in her country. She mentioned there was an opportunity for a sort of bridge project.”
The star added: “In the face of a lot of cuts in libraries and education, and public schools, my great focus today is on funding for libraries. Access to information is one of the most consequential gifts we have typically given Americans. I know that matters a great deal to [the queen. Some think that’s political, I think it’s fundamental.”
While at the library, Camilla — who has made advocacy for survivors of domestic violence a passion project — met representatives of city and state charities and agencies for domestic violence prevention and social services.
“Today” show host Jenna Bush Hager also hosted a panel with Camilla, saying, “It has been a great delight to share a common love of books with the queen, and a shared determination to make room for them in as many hearts and homes as possible.”
Camilla recounted how she started her book club, The Queen’s Reading Room, on Instagram during the pandemic. It’s now a charity with content reaching 12 million in 183 countries.
“The first Americans I met in life were the characters I met in my treasured childhood novels,” she said. “I knew, even then, the books are best friends you can have, in good times and bad.”
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