'Power and the Palace': What happened when Queen Camilla faced a creep; new book reveals

Queen Camilla's bravery is no longer a secret as a new book, Power and the Palace by Valentine Low, revealed that as a teenager, she once fought off a sexual assault on a train to London’s Paddington by striking her attacker with the heel of her shoe before having him arrested.

The book, currently being serialised in The Times, recalls a 2008 exchange between Camilla and then-London Mayor Boris Johnson, PTI reported.


At the time, Camilla Shand, aged 16 or 17, reportedly struck back at a man who was inappropriately touching her by removing her shoe and hitting him with the heel.

“I did what my mother taught me to. I took off my shoe and whacked him in the nuts with the heel,” reads the account from the book.

Once the train reached Paddington, she alerted a police officer and had the assailant arrested.

“The relevance of this conversation was that Johnson at the time wanted to open three rape crisis centres. There was already one in south London, and he wanted to open ones in east, west and north London,” the author notes, adding that Camilla went on to inaugurate some of these new centres.

"She did the responsible thing. Not only was she resourceful and strong, she was a responsible citizen in making sure the man was arrested," the book's author told the BBC.

As patron of the domestic abuse charity SafeLives, the 78-year-old Queen regularly visits refuges and crisis centres in the UK and abroad. She has spoken strongly about recognising the resilience of women who face domestic abuse and why they should not feel shame in speaking out, as per PTI.

In a 2020 speech, she remarked: “Through my work, I have talked to many women who have lived with coercive control and domestic violence and, thankfully, come out at the other end as the victors, not the victims. They are some of the bravest people I have ever met. Their stories are harrowing and have reduced even the toughest of their listeners to tears. That is why it is so vital that these survivors should no longer feel any shame or any blame."

Valentine Low’s Power and the Palace, based on nearly 100 interviews with senior politicians, officials, aides and experts, is set for release next week, promising rare insight into the often secretive relationship between the monarchy and government.