Queen Camilla Calls Domestic Abuse Survivors ‘Real Heroes’ at Wiltshire Summit

Queen Camilla has praised survivors of domestic abuse who speak publicly about what happened to them, calling them the “real heroes” of the fight against it. Speaking at a summit on ending violence against women and girls at Marlborough College in Wiltshire on Friday, she said that “the real heroes are the survivors, not the victims”, according to The Telegraph.

The Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) Summit was organised by Lady Lansdowne, one of the Queen’s Companions, a group of women who support the Queen’s public work. Before the Queen spoke, Labour MP Jess Phillips and Dame Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, addressed the room. The Commissioner is an independent post that advises government on domestic abuse.

The Queen gave a five-minute speech without notes. Hello! Magazine reported that she spoke with feeling about the people who had addressed the summit before her.

One of those speakers was Hetti Barkworth-Nanton CBE, chair of the board at Refuge, a charity that supports people affected by domestic abuse. She spoke about the death of her best friend, Jo Simpson, who was killed by her estranged husband, meaning a husband the couple had separated from.

The Queen also met Zara McDermott, a campaigner against revenge porn, which is the sharing of intimate images without the consent of the person pictured. McDermott is a victim of revenge porn, the Daily Mail reported. The same report quoted the Queen saying, as a resident of Wiltshire, that she was deeply impressed that the county is leading the way on ending domestic violence.

The summit came two days after a different public engagement. On Wednesday, Queen Camilla joined King Charles and Prince William to mark the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster in Wales. The collapse of a colliery spoil tip in 1966 killed 144 people, most of them children.