Members of the Royal Family often champion social issues that are close to their hearts. Recently we saw Prince William campaign to end homelessness on a new ITV documentary as he met with volunteers at a charity he once visited with mum Princess Diana.
Now Queen Camilla has showed what issues she is passionate about, shining a light on domestic violence, and not just on the impact on victims but also their families.
For a new ITV documentary called Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors, Camilla was filmed meeting with one woman whose daughter was killed by her partner.
Camilla made emotional pleas about the dire state of gender-based violence and how the issue can be tackled, which was received very well and supported by other high-profile figures, including MP Jess Phillips who is Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.
The documentary, which airs ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25, also won support from former Prime Minister Theresa May, barrister and women’s rights campaigner Cherie Blair and actors Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Patrick Stewart.
Camilla spoke of the shocking nature of domestic abuse, saying: “By scratching the surface, you get a terrible shock.
“It’s a heinous crime. If we could just get more people discussing it, talking about it, people are so shocked by what they hear that, rather like me, they want to say ‘oh, hang on a minute’ perhaps there’s something we can do to put an end to it.”
“One of the most difficult things about domestic abuse, to understand, it’s not the bruises and the black eyes, which, unfortunately you see, through violence, this is something that creeps up very slowly and, far too often, it ends up with women being killed.”
BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond also told OK!: “The women of the Royal family are increasingly taking on campaigns and issues which are challenging, messy and contentious.
“We saw Diana pave the way to ending the stigma of HIV and now we have The Duchess of Edinburgh being passionate about ending violence against women in war zones and The Queen championing the victims of domestic violence. These are not the sort of areas we would have seen senior royal women of the past getting involved with.”
Ms Bond added that the TV show revealed a side of Camilla we hadn’t seen much of before: “The formality of royal life sometimes obscures the true character of the person, but TV can offer glimpses of the person beneath.
“And in Camilla we see someone who is down to earth, empathetic and a champion of women’s rights and safety. She has taken a lot of flak in the past but I’m glad to see that she is now widely admired and respected. I know that if her documentary helps just one woman to get out of a violent home, then Camilla will view it as a success.”
