Queen Camilla meets French rape survivor as royal admits she was 'shocked' after hearing her story

Whilst sitting down with Ms Pelicot, Camilla said: "I've spoken to so many survivors, and I never thought I could be shocked by anything before, but I was shocked, speechless."

The Queen has a history of working and supporting survivors of sexual and domestic abuse and previously wrote to Ms Pelicot following the trial in 2024.

Ms Pelicot said she was "crushed by horror" after discovering her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, had repeatedly drugged her unconscious for years and invited dozens of men to rape her.

She told the BBC "something exploded inside me... It was like a tsunami!" upon discovering the extent of her former partner's crimes.

Her ex was jailed for 20 years for abuse that lasted nearly a decade.

The 73-year-old survivor has published her memoir, A Hymn To Life, where she described how phoning her three children with the news of what their father did was one of the hardest experiences in her life.

Ms Pelicot said: "I was well aware that for my children it was going to be immensely difficult."

She recalled her children's reactions, saying: "I heard my daughter scream. It was almost inhuman, that scream."

Her eldest son was in shock, while her youngest immediately asked how she was.

Ms Pelicot added: "They realised I was alone, and that I might do something stupid. For them, too, it was like an explosion."

She continued: "For more than four years, I carried this shame. And I felt that it was like a double punishment for victims, and a suffering we imposed on ourselves."

Ms Pelicot's lawyers gave her a week to decide whether to waive her anonymity, which she did the following morning.

Explaining why, she said: "I have never regretted my decision, not once. It was also a message to all victims who don't dare to do the same… It could give them some of the strength I found in me.

"Because within us we have resources that we don't even suspect. And if I was able to do this, all victims can too. I am convinced of this."

Fifty men were found guilty of rape or sexual offences after a three-and-a-half-month trial in Avignon, which ended in December 2024.

Upon receiving the letter from the Queen, Ms Pelicot said: "It was an honour for me to receive this letter, I wasn't expecting it at all."

She described feeling "overwhelmed that the Queen could send me this letter".

The correspondence came as a complete surprise to Ms Pelicot, who commented: "Although my words touched the whole world, I wasn't expecting a letter from the Court of England."

In her letter, she told Ms Pelicot that she had "inspired women across the globe" and "created a powerful legacy that will change the narrative around shame, forever".

"Thank you for all that you have done," the Queen wrote.

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