Queen Consort Camilla sends Bolton Runshaw student a letter

Megan Doherty from Great Lever wrote the story in 2014 while a pupil at St Andrew’s RC Primary School in Over Hulton.

Now an A-level student at Runshaw College, Megan was shocked to receive a letter addressed to her in an envelope emblazoned with the royal crest last month.

The story, ‘A Day in the Life of Jumbo’, was inspired by a topic at school about the circle of life where the pupils looked after some eggs to see them hatch.

When one of the chicks failed to hatch, a young Megan did not want that to be the end of the story, so created her own ending.

READ MORE: Queen Consort Camilla sends letter to Bolton schoolboy

She said: “In year five, which was in 2015, I wrote a story about a little chick that didn’t hatch but then it hatched and then it went on a trip to London and saw the Queen.”

Her mum, Angela, added: “She didn’t want to the chick to die, she wanted it to go on an adventure, so she wrote the cutest little story.”

Megan at school with a chick and her a certificate (Image: Angela Doherty)

Unbeknownst to Megan, Angela sent the story to Camilla, the Queen Consort, in November last year in the knowledge that she is a keen reader and hosts her own book club.

In January this year, they received a reply.

“I didn’t know my mum had sent it, so it was a surprise to me,” Megan, who has plans to become an engineer, said.

Angela added: “I was so shocked.

READ MORE: Camilla praises ‘life-changing’ effects of reading as she tours book charity

“I never told anybody and then I went to pick this letter up from the Post Office and then on the way down it dawned on me – I thought, ‘oh my God, it can’t be’.

“And then when we got it and I saw the royal crest on it I knew.

“It was just so nice. We were just buzzing about it.

“I’m putting it in a frame.”

The letter Megan received from Camilla (Image: Angela Doherty)

Megan is hoping to inspire the next generation as she plans to return to her former primary school to help deliver a message in line with a current topic at St Andrew's CE Primary about aspirations and hope.

Angela said: “We just want to get kids reading. That’s the plan. Reading is an adventure.”

READ MORE: King Charles visit to Bolton attracts thousands of people

In the letter, the Queen Consort willed Megan to ‘keep on writing stories’.

Megan added: “I still read but I don’t write as much because I’m prioritising my A-levels but it’s something that I do enjoy doing so once I finished my A-levels I will carry on, probably.”

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at lewis.finney@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @lewisfinney18.