Camilla has just revealed something she had kept secret for decades. In a special Radio 4 program, the Queen spoke for the first time about how a man attempted to molest her on a train to Paddington when she was a teenager in the 1960s. And she didn’t stand still. As she recalled, she defended herself against the attacker.
King Charles’ wife said she removed her shoe and delivered a sharp blow to his private parts with the heel. Just like that. Her mother had taught her that tactic, and it worked. The attacker was arrested at the station.
Interestingly, Camilla had never publicly discussed the incident, even though writer Valentine Low had already mentioned it in his book Power and the Palace last year. It was revealed that she told the story to Boris Johnson in 2008.
But now, at 78, she decided to share it publicly during a conversation about gender-based violence with John Hunt and his daughter Amy, whose family was the victim of a brutal attack last July. Camilla said their courage inspired her to speak out.
Context matters. The Queen was participating in a special program that coincided with the final day of the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. It’s no coincidence that she chose that moment to open up.