Queen Camilla Hopes to "Destigmatize" the "Taboo" of Talking About Sexual Assault by Detailing "Anger" She Felt After Being "Attacked" as a Teenager
"I remember something that had been lurking in the back of my brain for a very long time."
Earlier this year, a royal biographer revealed that Queen Camilla had once fought off an attempted assault when she was just a teenager. Now, The Queen has recounted the horrifying incident for the first time during an appearance on Radio 4's Today show.
"I remember something that had been lurking in the back of my brain for a very long time," Queen Camilla said during the discussion (via the Daily Mail). "That, when I was a teenager, I was attacked on a train...I remember at the time being so angry."
Recalling details of what occurred, Camilla explained, "[It was] somebody I didn't know. I was reading my book, and you know, this boy, man, attacked me, and I did fight back."
Understandably, The Queen's mom was concerned about what might have happened when she collected her daughter from the train station. Camilla shared, "And I remember getting off the train and my mother looking at me and saying, 'Why is your hair standing on end?' And, 'Why is the button missing from your coat?'"
Queen Camilla decided to tell her story during the Radio 4 show while speaking with BBC racing commentator John Hunt and his daughter Amy, who recounted their own devastating loss. In July 2024, John's daughter Louise was raped and murdered by her former partner, who also killed John's wife Carol and daughter Hannah in the same attack.
Of her decision to speak out, The Queen said, "But I remember anger, and I was so furious about it, and it's sort of lurked for many years." She continued, "And I think, you know, when all the subject about domestic abuse came up, and suddenly you hear a story like John and Amy's, it's something that I feel very strongly about."
Amy reacted to Camilla's story, telling her, "Thank you for sharing that, Your Majesty. It takes a lot to share these things because every woman has a story."
Camilla—who has dedicated much her working life to raising awareness about domestic abuse—said on the show (via the Guardian), "[The] majority of people actually don't want to know. It's been a taboo subject for so long." She continued, "I thought, if I've got a tiny soap box to stand on, I'd like to stand on it."
"I remember anger, and I was so furious about it."
In his book Power and the Palace: The Inside Story of the Monarchy and 10 Downing Street, royal expert Valentine Low revealed that The Queen had shared the story of the assault with former prime minister Boris Johnson and communications director, Guto Harri. The King's wife—who was approximately 16 or 17 years old when the incident happened—allegedly told the politicians, "I did what my mother taught me to. I took off my shoe and whacked him in the nuts with the heel."
At the time, a palace source revealed that The Queen didn't initially intend to share her story publicly. "If some good comes of this publication, which is that the wider issues are discussed, it destigmatizes the whole topic and empowers girls today to take action and seek help, and to talk about it, then that's a good outcome," the source shared (via GB News).
