New Documentary Shows Queen Camilla as a Fierce Defender of Abuse Survivors

• Queen Camilla, a long-time supporter of victims of domestic violence, appears in a new documentary premiering on Monday, November 11.
• Name of the 90 minute movie Her Majesty the Queen: Behind Closed DoorsSees the Queen speaking to survivors as an important part of royal business
• Queen Camilla continues to recover from a chest infection that forced her to miss last week’s Remembrance events

As he continues to recover from his chest infection, Queen Camilla He is releasing a documentary about a topic that is extremely important to him: raising awareness about domestic and sexual violence.

New, often harrowing documentary Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors It is released on November 11 and shows the Queen as she works to break the taboo around domestic violence. She also reveals and shows her empathy when meeting women experiencing domestic violence and their families deep understanding of the issue and needed assistance for women and girls. The film, which aims to give a voice to victims of domestic violence, will be broadcast on ITV1 in the UK.

One in five adults in the UK (and a quarter of all women) experience domestic violence in their lifetime, and it is estimated that around three women die each week from suicide as a result of domestic violence.

In the 90-minute film, Camilla, 77, meets victims of domestic violence and speaks to support workers who help women get a fresh start. As she does this, Camilla speaks candidly about what happened. motivated him over the last decade.

“One of the most difficult things to understand about domestic abuse; Unfortunately, it’s not the bruises and black eyes that you see through violence, it’s something that comes on very gradually and often happens to women. is being killed,” Camilla said in the documentary.

“You meet someone, you think they’re great and attractive and love you… and then they slowly start to undermine you. “They take away your friends, they take away your family… and then when you start to question that… these people get very violent,” he continued.

Of a never-before-seen private conversation with Diana Parkes, whose daughter Joanna Simpson was murdered by her estranged husband, Camilla said: “I think she is so strong, because not many people survive the death of their daughters. I admire her more than I can say.”

The film was introduced to many of the contributors and supporters at a special screening at Buckingham Palace. There’s Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, who was a friend of Joanna Simpson and is now president of the charity. Asylum“First of all, with every single survivor I’ve seen him speak to, it has nothing to do with the cameras,” he tells PEOPLE. “He does it specifically because he really cares and he really wants them to be comfortable.”

“Secondly, honestly, they come out of the conversation with her completely excited and thrilled to be helped to feel so comfortable talking about something that is so difficult,” Barkworth-Nanton continues. “But also because they spoke up. They listened to the Queen, and the Queen showed that she cared. You can’t put a value on the difference it makes for survivors, because it gets them up and they keep going. It’s incredible.”

“It helps them realize that they can hold their heads up and that they don’t need to be ashamed. This is all part of the repair. These women have been made to feel completely worthless, sometimes for decades. So meeting the Queen and talking about what happened is part of the journey. “And it takes them further on the journey in terms of starting to feel real self-confidence and worth,” he adds.

In one scene at the shelter, Camilla sits across from an unnamed client and looks at him empathetically over a cup of tea, slowly mouthing her story.

“It doesn’t matter that she’s the queen, and that woman is probably at the lowest point of her life in terms of how she feels about herself,” says Barkworth-Nanton. “And they come together as equals, and if they’re equal by coming together, it’s easier to ask the questions and help take them out on themselves because they feel safe. It helps them feel safe.”

It also features actor Sir Patrick Stewart, who talks about witnessing his father’s violence towards his mother.

The film also follows the Queen celebrating International Women’s Day at Buckingham Palace and ends with a small reception for a group of survivors who tell their stories in the documentary.

One of them was Rehema Muthamia. Britain’s first black Miss England in 2021, who entered the pageant to help spread the word about the issue to the pageant’s audience.

“He was accepting of us,” Muthamia told PEOPLE. “To show that this was important to him and to thank those of us who have gone through this process (and) been through this journey.”

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Muthamia adds: “He does an incredible job. For a ruler to undertake this; “Many of us have said we feel shame and guilt for ourselves, but for a member of the royal family to take on this social injustice is a powerful thing.”

“It could be anyone from any background. “He does not respect any woman or man,” he continues.

Queen Camilla has long supported victims of domestic violence and His last trip to Australia and Samoa next to you King CharlesThe 75-year-old attended a discussion on domestic and family violence in Australia in Canberra on October 21 to learn more about what is being done to combat the problem.

The Queen then delivered a keynote speech in Samoa on 24 October, recognizing the Commonwealth’s efforts to end gender-based violence, and the following day, Queen Camilla opened the Nursery School of Hope as the Samoa Victims Support Group continued its mission. To raise awareness and educate young people about preventing violence against women and girls.

“I just want to do something about it,” the Queen said in the trailer for her documentary. published on social media Later in the clip, he adds: “With determination and courage, we will succeed.”

“If Her Majesty has an ambition for this documentary, it is not so much that audiences know a little more about her and her work, but that this documentary sparks discussion in homes, schools and workplaces across the country,” said A Buckingham. Palace spokesman says. “Conversations with the Queen that if they can be had here, in a palace, they can and should be had anywhere.”

Queen’s documentary premieres as she moves on get rid of chest infectionThe incident, announced by the palace on November 5, forced her to miss several Remembrance events with the rest of the royal family over the weekend, including the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 9 and the Service of Remembrance at The Cenotaph war memorial on Sunday . On November 10th.

In a statement dated November 9Buckingham Palace issued an update on Queen Camilla’s health, saying: “Following the guidance of doctors to ensure a full recovery from a seasonal chest infection and to protect others from any potential risk, Her Majesty will not be attending Remembrance events this weekend.”

The statement continued: “Whilst this is a source of great disappointment to the Queen, she will mark the occasion privately at home and hopes to return to public duties early next week.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or go to: thehotline.org. All calls are free and confidential. The helpline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.