Francesca Simon

At the time, I was writing a series of books about the young James Bond, which were very popular.

So I got an invite, and, and every children's author that you've ever heard of in this country was there, whether it was Anthony Horowitz, Francesca Simon, J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, Eric Hill, Raymond Briggs, Michael Morpurgo, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

There were loads of us there, and there were loads of children there having a great day out.

It was a very sunny day, and there was this big event where they did this huge show where young actors were impersonating various characters from children's fiction, which the Queen watched with specially selected guests.