King Charles is ‘brilliant’ at mimicking Harry Potter voices when he reads bedtime stories to his grandchildren, Queen Camilla reveals in Reading Room podcast

King Charles can give a breathtaking turn as characters from Harry Potter when he performs for his grandchildren, Queen Camilla has revealed.

The monarch, who shared the 50p coin with wizard Albus Dumbledore last year, can pull off a ‘brilliant’ imitation of the characters from his wife’s beloved children’s series.

The Queen revealed her husband’s talent for mimicry last week on her new podcast, The Queen’s Reading Room, making her the second royal to switch to online programming after Meghan Markle’s now-canceled Archetypes show.

In the opening episode of the new podcast, in which she largely played second fiddle to crime writer Sir Ian Rankin, Her Majesty revealed that she enjoys reading JK Rowling’s books to her five grandchildren.

After being silent for most of the show, Camilla said, “I can’t impersonate voices for love or money. I’m totally hopeless at it… but my husband is doing brilliantly. He can do all the voices.”

King Charles sits his grandson Prince Louis on his lap during the Platinum Jubilee pageant outside Buckingham Palace on June 5, 2022

Camilla has been open in the past about how good Charles is with all ten of his grandchildren, including five of her children Tom and Laura: Lola and her brother Freddy, plus Laura’s Eliza, Gus and Louis.

In an interview for Prince, Son & Heir – Charles at 70 in 2018, Camilla said: ‘He gets down on his knees and crawls around with them for hours, you know, he makes funny noises and laughs and my grandchildren love at him, absolutely adore him.

‘He reads Harry Potter and can do all the different voices and I think children really appreciate that.’

A year earlier, she claimed her husband’s performances had left the grandchildren “enchanted.”

Speaking about the books she likes to read to her grandchildren on the new podcast, Camilla said: ‘I think the one I most enjoyed reading was Harry Potter… all the stories.

“I can’t impersonate voices for love or money. I’m completely hopeless at it. I was a very bad actor at school and I never mastered the art of mimicry.

‘But my husband does a brilliant job, he can do all the voices.’

The decision to largely omit the conversation with Scottish crime writer Sir Ian from the Queen’s new podcast is believed to have been a conscious one.

A source told the Times there was a conscious decision not to convert the podcast, which follows the success of her Queen’s Reading Room book club set up during the pandemic, into ‘the Camilla show’.

Future guests in the eight-episode series include Dame Joanna Lumley, author Elif Shafak and comedian and writer David Baddiel, with the Queen expected to make a fleeting appearance in each episode.

The newspaper had already been downloaded in more than 120 countries and 60 percent of the audience came from abroad, the newspaper reports.

King Charles leads his daughter-in-law Princess Catherine and his grandsons Princes George and Louis (left and second from left) to the Christmas morning service at Sandringham Church on December 25, 2023

King Charles can be seen playing with his then newborn grandson Prince Louis in TV program Prince, Son & Heir – Charles at the age of 70 in 2018

Charles plays with Camilla’s granddaughter Lola in a photo showing how much he adores his family in the documentary Prince, Son & Heir – Charles at the age of 70 in 2018

The comments gave listeners an insight into the seemingly idyllic family life Charles and Camilla have, and the importance Her Majesty places on family.

Three of her grandsons played a role in Charles’ coronation, while the Queen was also able to spend time with her own family away from the royals’ traditional Sandringham gathering at Christmas.

It comes after a BBC documentary gave people a behind-the-scenes look at the royal family during Charles III’s coronation year.

In the film, the Queen’s sister said the couple is ‘yin and yang’ but makes an extremely formidable team.

Annabel Elliot described her sister as the King’s ‘rock’, while Camilla’s close friend Lady Lansdowne said the fact the couple had to ‘fight’ to be together has only strengthened their unshakable ‘bond’.

And speaking publicly for the first time about the long relationship between the king and queen, Princess Anne – not known for her emotional exuberance – gave her sister-in-law the royal seal of approval.

‘I’ve known her for a long time. “Her understanding of the role and how much difference it makes to the King has been absolutely excellent,” she said.

‘This role is not something she would be natural for, but she does it very well. She provides that change of speed and tone, which is just as important.’