What you need to know
“I was so furious about it, but it was kind of hidden for years,” Camila said.
Queen Camilla has opened up for the first time about being indecently assaulted as a teenager.
In a special edition of BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Wednesday, December 31, the 78-year-old Queen spoke about her assault case in conversation with BBC horse racing commentator John Hunt, whose wife Carol, 61, and daughters Hannah, 28, and Louise, 25, were killed in a crossbow and knife attack in the UK in July 2024.
Louise Hunt’s ex-boyfriend Kyle Clifford, 26, was sentenced to life in prison in March after the attack.
Queen Camilla, who has long made supporting victims of rape, domestic violence and sexual abuse a key priority in her public life, invited John and his surviving daughter Amy to Clarence House to record the episode as part of the United Nations’ 16 days of international action against gender-based violence.
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“I was attacked on a train when I was a teenager. I had forgotten about it, but I remember being very angry at the time,” Camilla said of her assault, according to footage shared by the BBC.
“This is someone I didn’t know,” she continued. “I was reading a book and this boy attacked me, so I fought back.”
“I remember getting off the train and my mother looked at me and said, ‘Why is your hair standing on end and why is your coat missing a button?'” the Queen said. ”
“I’ve been attacked and I feel angry. I was so furious about it, but it was like hiding for years,” she added.
Camila continued: “When you bring up the topic of domestic violence and all of a sudden you hear stories like John and Amy’s, it feels really strong.”
This special episode was guest edited by former British Prime Minister Baroness Theresa May, who is also a long-time campaigner against domestic violence.
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As previously reported by PEOPLE, the Queen’s assault was first made public in Valentine Lowe’s book Power and the Palace, which was released in September of this year.
The book details Camilla’s first few encounters with Boris Johnson, then the mayor of London, in 2008, according to excerpts previously published by The Times.
Camilla invited Mr Johnson to Clarence House for their first meeting, said Guto Hari, a communications director who worked with Mr Johnson when he became mayor of London.
Mr Hari said Camilla shared a deeply personal story from her teenage years relating to Mr Johnson’s plans to open three rape crisis centers in London.
“The serious conversation they had was about her being the victim of an attempted sexual assault when she was a high school girl,” Rowe writes in the book.
The journalist continued, “She was on the train to Paddington – she was about 16 or 17 years old – and someone was moving his hand further and further away… Then Johnson asked what happened next and she replied: “My mother taught me.” She took off her shoes and hit Johnson’s nut with her heel.”When she arrived at Paddington, she jumped off the train, saw a man in uniform and said, “That man just attacked me,” and she was arrested.” ”
“The relevance of this conversation was that Johnson at the time wanted to open three rape crisis centres. There was already one in south London, and he wanted to open one in east, west and north London as well,” Rowe wrote. “Mr. Hariri said, ‘I think she officially opened two of the three. No one asked her why she was interested or why she made the commitment. But then it came back.'”
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Over the years, Camila has regularly spoken out in support of victims of rape, domestic violence and sexual abuse.
In March, it was revealed that Her Majesty the Queen had contacted Gisele Pericot and praised her “extraordinary dignity and courage”.
The Queen was “deeply affected” by a rape trial in the south of France last year. The trial ended with Perico’s husband, Dominic, being found guilty of drugging and repeatedly raping his wife of 50 years.
“As a long-time supporter of victims of domestic abuse and sexual abuse, the Queen personally wrote to Mrs. Perico,” a royal aide told Newsweek magazine earlier this year. “It was precisely at her instigation and determination that I wrote the letter to express support from the highest levels.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit rainn.org.
