Gisele Pelicot’s secret letter from Queen Camilla who was shaken by horror case

Queen Camilla reportedly wrote to brave Gisele Pelicot, who was drugged by her husband and raped by him and dozens of other men over almost a decade, to express her support

Queen Camilla sent a private letter to French rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot after being “tremendously affected” by the case that shocked the world, it has emerged.

Ms Pelicot was drugged by her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, to render her unconscious, and then raped by him and dozens of other men, between 2011 and 2020. Fifty men were found guilty of rape or sexual offences after a three-and-a-half-month trial in Avignon, France, which concluded in December.

Ms Pelicot bravely waived her right to anonymity as a survivor, asserting that shame should fall on her abusers, not her. Camilla is known for her work with the victims of domestic and sexual abuse – and it is said she wanted to contact Ms Pelicot to “express support from the highest level”.

A palace source told Newsweek: “She [Camilla] was tremendously affected by the Madame Pelicot case in France and that lady’s extraordinary dignity and courage as she put herself in the public eye, because, as she rightly put it, why should she be made to feel like a victim or hide away in shame? And, of course, she helped highlight a very significant societal problem despite all the personal suffering she’d been through.

“So, as a long-term supporter of survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, the Queen wrote to Madame Pelicot privately. It was very much her instigation and determination to write to express support from the highest level.”

Last year, Camilla appeared in a landmark documentary, where she vowed she would “keep trying” to end domestic violence until she is “able to no more”. She also labelled domestic abuse as a “heinous crime” and told how she is determined to continue raising awareness of the issue.

It came after the Queen was followed over the course of a year for the ITV1 and ITVX documentary looking at her work in the field, including holding private meetings with survivors, some of who feature in the film and a secret visit to a refuge centre.

She told the documentary about ending domestic and sexual violence: “It is going to take a long, long time because it has been going on forever.

“It’s been going since since time began. But I think if you look at the steps that we’ve taken since the bad old days, we have made a huge amount of progress, and I shall keep on trying until I am able to no more.”

In the days after the show was broadcast, the King admitted the landmark documentary had moved him to tears. Hosting a reception to celebrate the centenary of the Film and TV Charity at Buckingham Palace last year, he met the makers of ITV ’s Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors. Telling Kerene Barefield and Naveed Chowdhary-Flatt how he watched the preview, he said: “I am really proud. I was moved to tears.”

If you’ve been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999.