I went to a fabulous party with the Queen and half of Hollywood – you’ll never guess what we talked about...

...one of Camilla’s biggest passions, writes Gyles Brandreth, who’s spilling the beans on who he saw, what they wore – and what we should all be striving for

Gyles Brandreth: ‘Last night I was invited to the most marvellous party at Clarence House, hosted by none other than the Queen herself’ (Getty Images)

I confess, I had promised to give up name-dropping for lent… but the event I am about to recall was so star-studded that I may as well throw in the towel and admit defeat. The next 600 or so words will be hugely challenging – not least because I will be name-dropping furiously henceforth.

Last night I was invited to the most marvellous party at Clarence House, hosted by none other than the Queen herself, in celebration of the results of a study carried out by her Reading Room charity, which of course is the Queen’s absolute passion.

It felt like the entire world had turned out for the occasion. Famous faces filled the room on all sides – Joanna Lumley, Helena Bonham Carter, Philippa Gregory, Michael Dobbs, Anthony Horowitz, Ian Rankin, Ken Follett; they were all there to support the Queen. What a treat it was to see the legendary Donna Tartt and king of the Netflix adaptations, Harlan Coben, who had both made the trip across the pond – especially for the bash.

The Queen, twinkling as always and a vision in teal, appeared at the foot of the stairs and, noting that this year marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of Noël Coward, then regaled us with famous lines from “The Master’s Song”: “We knew the excitement was about to begin / When Laura got blind on Dubonnet and gin…”

And indeed, the excitement was about to begin.

The party balloons were also out for the Queen’s Reading Room charity, which was celebrating its third anniversary as a book club, and its first anniversary as a charity. As follows tradition, the gift for a first anniversary is paper – and so it was appropriate that we should all be celebrating books.

To mark this momentous occasion, the charity has commissioned its own research into the link between reading fiction and wellbeing, and the results are quite astounding.

In her rousing speech, the Queen rallied everybody to read more fiction, noting that reading could be as important as eating your five a day or getting in your 10,000 steps.

Charity boss and The Queen’s Reading Room Podcast host Vicki Perrin took to the stage (or, rather, the foot of the stairs), to enlighten us on the study, which saw people wearing portable brain scans and medical watches whilst they read fiction, collecting a whopping 72 million data points along the way. She explained how these biometric readings were used to measure emotional and physiological responses to reading fiction. The Queen even took a peek down the lens of a microscope at brain samples prepared by the president of the British Neuroscience Association.

The findings have been absolutely revelatory. We try desperately to hurl ourselves around our local park in an attempt to look after our physical health, but did you know that reading fiction or listening to an audiobook can also improve our wellbeing?

What this pioneering study has proven is that just five minutes of reading fiction can reduce stress levels by almost 20 per cent, which is quite remarkable, when you think about it.

The study also found that people who read regularly are less likely to feel lonely and are more likely to be able to empathise with others. Given that leading researchers have already found a strong connection between social isolation and an increased likelihood of developing different dementias, these findings really are groundbreaking.

It’s furiously important to keep our brain fit as we age, and now the good news is that just five minutes of a good book, even while we boil the kettle, can help keep our grey matter in ship-shape condition.

We are so lucky to have the Queen and King defending and championing the arts. Her Majesty, a lifelong reader herself, is deeply committed to promoting the joy and comfort that comes from the pages of a novel. It is so refreshing to have somebody at the helm who is a real reader and lover of all literature of all genres – from crime to romcoms to historical fiction.

This research, I’m sure, is the start of something very exciting for the Queen and the Queen’s Reading Room. As my dear friend Rupert Everett said when he turned to me last night: “What brilliant news.”

Reading rocks!