Her Majesty the Queen becomes honorary freeman and liveryman of the Stationers’

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The Queen has been cloathed in the livery of the Stationers’ and Newspaper Makers’ Company, the City of London livery company for the communications and content industries, in recognition of Her Majesty’s work for literacy. 

At an historic ceremony at Stationers’ Hall, the Master of the Stationers’ Company, Doug Wills, cloathed Her Majesty in the gown of the livery. 

The ceremony was witnessed by the Rt Honourable the Lord Mayor of London Alderman Alastair King DL, Sheriff Alderman Greg Jones KC, Alderman Vincent Keaveny, First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, Lord Sedwill, The Rt Honourable the Lord Boateng, The City Remembrancer Paul Wright and Geordie Greig (editor in chief of The Independent).

Her Majesty’s sponsors for the ceremony were the first two women Masters of the Company – Helen Esmonde and Moira Sleight. 

Following the ceremony, Her Majesty was shown around Stationers’ Hall where she met several of her fellow Stationers and learned more of the charitable work of the organisation’s foundation in education and welfare and the Stationers’ Charity. 

Matt Stockl, a former apprentice of The Queen’s Royal Bindery Apprenticeship Scheme at Windsor Castle, a scheme set up in partnership with the Stationers’ Company, was commissioned to bind a book written by Stationer Margaret Willes, A Shakespearean Botanical, which was presented to Her Majesty by Zachary Welsh, a pupil at Leigh Stationers’ Primary Academy.

Members of the Armed Forces from the Royal Marines and another military unit, whose charities are supported by the Stationers’ Foundation, were presented to Her Majesty, along with a detachment of the Royal Marines cadets from the Leigh Stationers Academy, who formed an honour guard on her arrival.

Queen Camilla met the organisers and former winners of the Shine School Media Awards, an annual national school competition for pupil led publications, run by the Stationers’ Company and supported by its Foundation.

Freeman Bill Bowkett, who won an award in 2016 when editor of his school magazine, now a journalist for the London Standard, said: “It was such an honour to meet Her Majesty and talk to her about the wonderful work that Shine does. One of the prizes of the Shine award was a workshop at the Daily Mail. The Foundation supported me through my journalism training and helped me secure work as a journalist.’

Former apprentice journalist, Abbianca Makoni, said: ‘It was wonderful to be introduced to the Queen. I was thrilled to tell her about my journey into journalism, which began with an editorial apprenticeship made possible by the Stationers’ Company. Its work is a perfect example of how investing in young people can create lasting impact, as I've gone on to use the skills from the apprenticeship to build a thriving media career and I know many others who have benefited from the support can say the same.’

Her Majesty was shown the copyright registers dating back to 1557, in particular that of an entry made in 1623 for the right to copy the plays of William Shakespeare, now known as The First Folio.

The Master of the Stationers’ Company also presented Lord Boateng, vice patron of Book Aid International, with a donation to Book Aid International in celebration of Her Majesty joining the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers. Her Majesty is patron of Book Aid International.