The acclaimed Australian author Richard Flanagan accidentally forced Duchess Camilla to break royal protocol as he leaned in for a kiss with her while accepting his Man Booker Prize in London.
The Man Booker prize is widely considered one of literature’s highest honours and the Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan became only the fourth Australian ever to receive the award for his novel The Narrow Road to the Deep.
The Duchess of Cornwall was at the awards dinner as Patron of the National Literacy Trust to present the award, and also gave a speech about the power and significance of books and reading.
When his name was called at the awards dinner, a very surprised looking Richard took to the stage where he put his arms around the Duchess and gave her a kiss on the cheek!
Left: Richard Flanagan breaks with royal protocol as he leans in for a kiss. Right: The author grins as he poses with his Man-Booker Prize winning novel.
Such a show of affection is a strict no-no on the long list of protocols that must be obeyed when in the presence of the royal family, but Her Royal Highness took it in her stride, grinning as she congratulated the author and presented him with the award.
Perhaps the Aussie author feels part of the Royal family now, after he previously had an audience with the Queen, when he won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Gould’s Book of Fish.
Richard’s latest novel, which tells the story of prisoners of war on the Burma railway, took him twelve years to write and was overlooked for similar literary acclaim back home where it missed out on winning the Miles Franklin Award – Australia’s highest literary honour.
It seems the Duchess of Cornwall took it in her stride and kept her sense of humour!
The Narrow Road to the Deep is a very personal novel for Richard, as the story is based on the experiences his father had as a prisoner of war working as slave labour on the Burma Railway during World War II. Richard dedicated the book to his father who, in a bittersweet twist of fate, died, aged 98, on the day his son completed the novel.
“A writer’s life is to be defeated by ever greater things, it is a journey into humility and you do not expect these strokes of good fortune to come your way, Richard, 53, said in his acceptance speech.
“You’re just grateful to be allowed to be back at the table the next day writing.
“I’m very grateful for this, it is one of the greatest honours that can be accorded in the world of literature but I didn’t expect it.”
Richard was awarded £50,000 ($91,000) for the win, but most importantly the prize will bring a huge boost in both the sales of his book and the reputation of Australian literature.
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