A new royal biography has revealed the heartbreaking story of how Queen Camilla once fought off an attacker with her shoe, after the man tried to inappropriately touch her on a train. She was a teenager at the time, on a service heading into London's Paddington station.
Sources close to the King's wife said Camilla's response to remove her shoe and defend herself from the unwanted advances stemmed from advice her mother had previously shared with her, should an unfortunate situation such as that ever arise.
The story is included in Power and the Palace by Valentine Low, previously a Royal Editor for The Times. “She did the responsible thing,” Low said, during an interview on BBC Radio 4. “Not only was she resourceful and strong, she was a responsible citizen in making sure the man was arrested.”
While Buckingham Palace has not commented on the story, the BBC writes that it also has not been disputed by the royal press team either.
It's reported that Camilla—who is known for her patronages of organizations that aid survivors of domestic and sexual violence—hasn't publicly shared her own experience of unwanted touching due to not wanting to detract from the voices of those she is supporting and attempting to spotlight. However, it is said that the Queen did recount the tale to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, back in 2008 when he was Mayor of London.
Earlier this year, during an event for SafeLives (a charity working to end domestic abuse), Camilla said: “I would not be standing here if it was 10 years ago because we wouldn't have been talking about it—it was a taboo subject. Nobody actually wanted to talk about it.
“But now 10 years later we've got survivors telling their story who years ago would've been too ashamed to come forward to tell their stories, but now they'll get up and talk and inspire others to talk.”
