The Cartoon Duchess

We're getting plenty of royal firsts and records right now from the longest reigning monarch to a Jubilee king and today we got another one. The Duchess of Cornwall became the first royal to voice a cartoon version of herself.

The Duchess of Cornwall in cartoon form - she gave her support and her voice to a project supporting literacy

(photo from BBC Radio 2 500 words competition)

Camilla appears in animated form in a video to launch BBC Radio 2's 500 Words competition, the annual writing contest for children aged 13 and under which challenges them to come up with an original piece of fiction in just 500 words.

.@achrisevans has launched @BBCRadio2's #500Words competition & he's introduced someone special to the judging panel https://t.co/VDauOFb8N3

— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) January 18, 2016

The Duchess of Cornwall, who has been a high profile campaigner for literacy in the past, has given her support to the campaign in years gone by. But this time round she appears as a judge. Her appearance in the cartoon comes at the very end and although her line is short, it sums up the whole competition - 'So, what story are you going to write?' asks the duchess in her cartoon form. And it  might not be the last we hear from Camilla on 500 Words - one of the prizes in the contest is to hear a famous voice read out the winning stories. And the voices don't come much more famous than Camilla's - which means that the Cartoon Duchess could well be giving way to the real thing in Shakespeare's famous theatre when the contest comes to an end.

Details of the competition can be found here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/500words.