DEVOTED TO THE CAUSE

As a campaigner for women's safety, Queen Camilla meets survivors of domestic abuse in a powerful documentary

- REBECCA RUSSELL

Queen Camilla is a truly modern-day royal consort. Not only has her journey to the throne been unique, but her passions are also unusual for such a senior royal. The 77-year-old is known for fiercely championing several important causes — chief among them being to support the survivors of domestic abuse.

It is the Queen’s work as a vocal advocate for those who suffer abuse, coercive control and sexual violence that is the inspiration for a new ITV documentary: Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors. And, having watched the documentary, it is plain to see that the royal’s ambitions are simple: she wants to give a voice to the voiceless and bring an end to the silence and shame.

“I don’t know where you’d like to begin,” comes the Queen’s familiar, warm tone as she takes a seat in front of the camera at her home, Clarence House. After praising the all-women documentary team, the audience gets their first glimmer of just how much time and effort Camilla has put into supporting this cause since she took up the mantle in 2010. Opening up about her mission, she soon brings things into focus, explaining, “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.’”