Breaking news: Queen Camilla details terrifying sexual assault incident in new…
Breaking news: Queen Camilla details terrifying sexual assault incident in new book
Queen Camilla found herself sharing a rare and shocking incident about her younger years, which may indicate her strong advocacy for this particular cause.
King Charles’s wife has long supported victims of rape, domestic violence and sexual abuse a key priority of her public work. Now, a new story has emerged in which Camilla narrates an incident in which she escaped sexual assault when she was a minor.
An excerpt from Valentine Low’s new book Power and the Palace, was published in The Times on Sunday. In the account, Camilla is relaying an encounter to then-London mayor Boris Johnson in 2008.
According to Guto Harri, the communications director who worked with Boris, recalled that Camilla had invited Boris to Clarence House for the first meeting.
“[The] serious conversation they had was about her being the victim of an attempted sexual assault when she was a schoolgirl,” Low wrote.
“She was on a train going to Paddington — she was about 16, 17 — and some guy was moving his hand further and further … ‘At that point Johnson had asked what happened next. She replied: ‘I did what my mother taught me to. I took off my shoe and whacked him in the nuts with the heel.’”
Low the cited Guto’s comments in which he lauded young Camilla for being “self-possessed enough” that when the train arrived at Paddington, she jumped off to find a guy in uniform and say ‘That man just attacked me’ which led to the arrest.
In March, Camilla had personally reached out to Gisèle Pelicot, who was repeatedly drugged and raped by her husband of 50 years, to commend her “extraordinary dignity and courage”.
The palace aide had revealed that Gisèle’s statement resonated deeply with Camilla when she said “why should she be made to feel like a victim or hide away in shame?”.
“It was very much her instigation and determination to write to express support from the highest level,” the aide said of the Queen.
