Duchess of Cornwall praises Bolton boy for reading 50 books during lockdown

AN eight-year-old boy has been congratulated by the Duchess of Cornwall after completing a year-long reading challenge in just three months.

Milan Kumar of Bolton received a signed letter from Camilla last week after he read over 50 books during lockdown.

The 50-book challenge set by his school saw him read a number of novels, including works by William Shakespeare, David Walliams and JK Rowling.

The Duchess -- who is also the patron of the Royal Society of Literature -- congratulated Kumar on his “absolutely wonderful” achievement."

Kumar had set himself the challenge in March, hoping to complete it by June. "I went on to read more than 50 books including a biography of Nelson Mandela, which was uplifting and reminded me of my family holiday last year to South Africa,” he said.

His parents thanked the Duchess for the letter, claiming it had inspired their son, "who is now looking forward to the next reading challenge".

Kumar also had a message to Camilla, who had recently said Prince Charles left their grandchildren "spellbound" with his dramatic readings of Harry Potter stories and impersonation of the characters in them.

He said: "If you ever visit the northwest of England, you would be more than welcome to visit Bolton School, which by the way looks just like Hogwarts! I will be in Year 4, please pop in and say hi, and perhaps Prince Charles can read a Harry Potter story to us!"