The Queen was sexually assaulted as a teenager, a new royal book has claimed. The incident is said to have happened on a train to Paddington when Camilla was a 16 or 17-year-old schoolgirl, when a man attempted to touch her. The revelation has appeared in an upcoming book by former royal correspondent, Valentine Low, titled Power and the Palace: The Inside Story of the Monarchy and 10 Downing Street, serialised in The Times.
Camilla is said to have recounted the assault to Boris Johnson, who was Mayor of London at the time, revealing that she fought the assailant off with the heel of her shoe.
Boris’ communications director Guto Harri recalled of the conversation. “She was on a train going to Paddington — she was about 16, 17 — and some guy was moving his hand further and further …”
He added: “At that point Johnson had asked what happened next. She replied: ‘I did what my mother taught me to. I took off my shoe and whacked him in the nuts with the heel.’
“She was self-possessed enough when they arrived at Paddington to jump off the train, find a guy in uniform and say, ‘That man just attacked me’, and he was arrested.”
The Queen is said to have opened up about the incident to Boris because at the time he wanted to open three rape crisis centres.
Harri added: “I think she formally opened two out of three of them. Nobody asked why the interest, why the commitment. But that’s what it went back to.”
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment.
If you’ve been affected by this story, you can contact Rape Crisis England & Wales for free on their 24/7 rape and sexual abuse support line on 0808 500 222.
Camilla’s work to raise awareness of domestic violence
The Queen has been campaigning for years to raise awareness of domestic abuse, using her platform and her voice to help make a significant difference. She’s been patron of several charities around the world, including SafeLives – a charity she has been working with since 2020. To mark their 21st anniversary in 2025, Camilla hosted a reception at Clarence House.
During another important event at Clarence House in 2022 to mark 50 years of charity Refuge, Camilla said during the speech: “Fifty years ago, there was almost no support available: no helplines, no counselling, nowhere to go, no specialist laws, and, perhaps most painfully, very little public understanding of the issue. It was a taboo subject: what happened at home stayed at home.”
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesShe is also patron of The Mirabel Centre in Lagos, Nigeria – the country’s first sexual assault referral centre. A pivotal reception hosted by Camilla in 2013, held at Clarence House, saw saw key figures come together to discuss rape and sexual abuse – something that hadn’t happened until then. That same year, she launched The Wash Bags project, with the aim of providing survivors of sexual assault with toiletries to use following a forensic examination.
© Getty ImagesCamilla has traveled around the world to help spread awareness and has visited domestic abuse centres in countries including India, the Balkans and the USA. In her 2024 documentary, Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors, she further spoke about tackling domestic violence. “You can imagine how terrifying it is for a woman to be stuck with a very violent partner, feeling that fear every single day,” she said.
Discussing the need for more to be done, Camilla added: “If we could just get more people discussing it…” “Coercive control is almost the most frightening bit of domestic abuse. You meet somebody, you think they’re wonderful, attractive, and love you, and then bit by bit they start to undermine you. “They take away your friends, they take away your family. They take control of your money. They start dressing you. And yet all the time I suppose people still believe they’re doing it because they love them.”
© Getty ImagesThe documentary was hugely praised, with domestic abuse charity Tender noting how it “demonstrated the lack of understanding across society around domestic violence and abuse – people simply haven’t been given the language and tools to recognise it”. Camilla also described violence against women as a “global pandemic,” during another powerful speech at Buckingham Palace in November 2022, as part of a reception during the UN’s 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
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