Overview
- Queen Camilla, Vice-Patron of the Royal Commonwealth Society, hosted the 2025 presentation at St James’s Palace on 20 November.
- She praised the young writers’ “incurable itch for writing” and said she was certain the finalists had “an exciting future ahead.”
- Senior winner Kaira Puri, 17, from India, and junior winner Vivaan Agarwal, 14, from India, were joined by runners-up Pandora Onyedire, 17, from Nigeria, and Lakshmi Manognya Achanta, 14, from Singapore.
- Organisers reported a record 53,434 submissions from across the Commonwealth for this year’s competition.
- Readings of the winning entries were delivered by Geri Halliwell-Horner, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Joan Armatrading and Monica Galetti, following a week that included a Commons tour led by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and a visit to the Standard newsroom.