Queen Camilla has spoken publicly about her experience of indecent assault for the first time, saying the incident left her “furious” and “angry”.
The attack, which was first reported in the book Power and the Palace earlier this year, took place on a train to Paddington Station when Camilla was 16 or 17 years old.
It outlined how the future Queen had hit the man with the heel of her shoe after he touched her, before reporting her attacker and seeing him arrested when the train arrived.
The Queen’s revelation came as part of a conversation about domestic violence and sexual abuse with racing commentator John Hunt and his daughter Amy on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
She praised the strength and bravery of Mr Hunt and his family after his wife Carol and two of his daughters, Louise and Hannah, were killed in a crossbow attack carried out by Louise’s ex-boyfriend.
She said she had “sort of forgotten” what happened to her, but had been encouraged to share her story after hearing of the attack.
“I remember something that had been lurking in the back of my brain for a very long time,” the Queen told John and Amy Hunt and the BBC’s Emma Barnett in an interview at Clarence House. “That, when I was a teenager, I was attacked on a train.
“I was reading my book, and this boy – man – attacked me, and I did fight back,” she added.
She remembered 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?’ I had been attacked.
“I was physically attacked but I remember anger, and I was so furious about it.”
The Queen said she had been encouraged to speak out by the bravery of the Hunt family, telling the programme: “When 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.”
In response, Amy Hunt said: “Thank you for sharing that, Your Majesty. It takes a lot to share these things because every woman has a story.”
Carol, Hannah, and Louise Hunt were all killed by Louise’s ex-boyfriend, Kyle Clifford, at their Hertfordshire home in July 2024. Speaking about the family’s grief, Mr Hunt said it “remains really difficult on a minute-by-minute basis”.
“You have to try and find the strength in our position to arm yourself with as many tools as possible that are going to help you get through that next hour,” he added.
In the programme, which was guest edited by former PM and Tory peer Theresa May, they also discussed the online radicalisation of young men. The Queen advocated for education and a focus on young men to ensure they do not become perpetrators of abuse.
“They may have had parents or relatives who’ve been abusive or done terrible things to them. So they’re almost brought up to believe that it’s a natural thing to do,” she said.
“But if you can get them early enough and teach them respect for women, I think that’s so important to get into schools … and the more I look at it, it is the most important thing we can do now.”
Queen Camilla has long worked with victims of domestic violence, including visiting rape centres in the UK and abroad, hosting receptions for sexual assault and domestic abuse survivors, and speaking out on the issue.
She praised the Hunt family, telling them: “I’d just like to say, wherever your family is now, they’d be so proud of you both.
“And they must be from above smiling down on you and thinking, my goodness me, what a wonderful, wonderful father, husband, sister. They’d just be so proud of you both.”
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