The Queen visits the original home of Black Beauty author

Horse charity Redwings plays host to Queen Camilla one year into its custodianship of Anna Sewell House

Queen Camilla has paid a visit to Redwings, the UK’s largest horse welfare charity, to see some the charity’s work and visit the birthplace and home of Anna Sewell, author of the classic book, Black Beauty.

Redwings has been the custodian of Anna Sewell House in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, since 21 July 2022, and it uses the house as a showcase and legacy of the author’s work, which did much to improve the lives of working horses in the 19^th century. Its great impact came from the fact that, unusually for the time, the story was told from the horse’s perspective, raising awareness of cruel welfare practices that were commonplace then, in particular the bearing rein used on carriage horses.

Black Beauty was one of Queen Camilla’s favourite books when a child and her literacy charity, the Queen’s Reading Room, has selected a special fundraising edition as one of the books it will be promoting in the coming months. The book is being produced by Redwings in conjunction with the University of East Anglia (UAE) and is due to be published in November.

The first edition of Black Beauty is currently stored in the tiny bedroom in which Anna was born in 1820, and during her visit to Anna Sewell House on 24 July, the Queen was able to view this edition along with others, one of which features Anna’s original dedication to her aunts. Since its first publication in 1877, the book is one of only a few titles to have sold more than 50 million copies worldwide and in those 146 years, it has never been out of print. Sadly, Anna Sewell died within a year of her book’s first publication and so never witnessed its success or influence.

While at Redwings, Camilla also met charity staff and trustees who spoke to her about Anna and her novel’s influence on animal welfare. The Queen also met Redwing’s resident Shetland ponies, Moses and Dhansak and watched horse-related educational activities performed by local Scout groups.

Associate Professor Hilary Emmett, who specialises in 19^th-century American literature at UAE, said: “It was an honour to meet Her Majesty today and tell her about our special partnership with Redwings and the creation of this edition of Black Beauty ahead of Redwings’ 40^th anniversary next year. It’s a wonderful project and the first time the book will be raising funds directly for the horses that we know Anna so dearly loved. We like to think she would have approved.”

For more information about Anna Sewell House and Redwings, visit www.redwings.org.uk