Queen Camilla Holds Emotional Meeting With Domestic Abuse Survivors: "You're Virtually the Same Age as My Granddaughters"
The Queen said she would campaign for change until she's "able to no more."
Queen Camilla has been a longtime supporter of charities supporting domestic violence victims, and earlier this month, the groundbreaking new documentary, Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors, shared some of these brave women's stories. Now, in unseen footage from the program, The Queen has revealed how she's been speaking to her own grandchildren about the issue.
During the documentary, Queen Camilla met with four women between the ages of 15 and 20 working with the charity SafeLives, of which Her Majesty serves as a royal patron. The Changemakers group—which is aimed at working with schools and young people at risk of domestic violence—met with The Queen at Buckingham Palace to discuss how young women in particular are impacted by abusive relationships.
In unseen clips from the film shared with the Mirror, The Queen said, “I think it's very interesting, because you're virtually the same age as my granddaughters and they were suggesting that to take sort of pop up shops into schools, you know, say, with two or three Changemakers would be such a good idea, because young people react to young people."
Camilla has two teenage grandchildren, Lola Parker Bowles, 17—who is the daughter of her son Tom Parker Bowles and his ex-wife, Sarah—and Elisa Lopes, 16, who was born to Camilla's daughter Laura Lopes and husband Harry Lopes.
Buckingham Palace held a special screening of Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors ahead of its release.
The Queen added that students were "probably going to say much more to all of you than they would to some of us here," referring to the young women working with the Changemakers group versus someone older like herself.
Per Safelives, the young women in the group range between 13 and 21 years of age and work on projects such as "combatting harmful and toxic behaviors in early relationships" and "researching what causes young people to display abusive behaviors." The Changemakers are also working to shape the national curriculum in the U.K. to include better education on issues surrounding domestic violence.
Her Majesty described the school program as a "brilliant project." But when it comes to the issue of domestic abuse, Queen Camilla was candid about what she and other campaigners are up against.
"It is going to take a long, long time because it has been going on forever," Queen Camilla said of domestic violence. "But I think if you look at the steps that we've taken since the bad old days, we have made a huge amount of progress, and I shall keep on trying until I am able to no more."
If you or someone you know is experiencing relationship abuse in any form, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline for free, confidential support 24/7/365. Text START to 88788, call 1-800-799-SAFE(7233) or chat online at TheHotline.org.
