THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL HOSTS DINNER IN HONOUR OF SIR TOM STOPPARD

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, Vice-Patron of The London Library, hosted a dinner on Thursday 18th May 2017 in honour of Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE who joined the Library in 1970 and has been the Library’s President since 2002.

Sir Tom is one of the world’s foremost playwrights and screenwriters. His writing career of over 50 years has included major stage works - such as Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (1966), Travesties (1974) and The Hard Problem (2015) -  and screenplays such as Shakespeare In Love (1998) and Anna Karenina (2012).

Sir Tom will retire as President when he turns 80 in July of this year, and will then take up an ongoing role as one of the Library’s Vice-Presidents.

Tonight’s dinner hosted by The Duchess of Cornwall included readings by TV, stage and film actor Tom Hollander (The Night Manager, Pride and Prejudice) and Zoë Wanamaker (Piaf, Loot, My Family, Mr Selfridge, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone). As Vice-Patron of The London Library, The Duchess of Cornwall continues a long line of royal patronage that began when Prince Albert became The Library’s first Patron in the 1840s.

The London Library is the world’s largest independent lending library. Established in 1841 by Thomas Carlyle, it has had a 176 year association with many of the world’s leading writers and thinkers - from Charles Dickens, George Eliot and Virginia Woolf, to TS Eliot, EM Forster and Bram Stoker. Members can borrow from a unique collection of over one million books, housed on over 17 miles of shelves and dating from the 16th century to the present day.

The London Library’s Chairman, Sir Howard Davies commented: “We are indebted to The Duchess of Cornwall for her ongoing support and patronage of the London Library and delighted to have had the opportunity at tonight’s reception to honour the outstanding role Sir Tom Stoppard has played as President of The Library over the last 15 years.”