NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n
A new book about the relationship between the British royal family and the country’s politicians details an account given by Queen Camilla<\/a> about a sexual assault she experienced as a teenager.\n<\/p>\n An excerpt from Valentine Low’s new book Power and the Palace, published in <\/a>The Times<\/a> on Sunday, Aug. 31, recounts the first few encounters between Camilla, now 78, and then-London mayor Boris Johnson<\/a> in 2008.\n<\/p>\n According to Guto Harri, the communications director who worked with Johnson, 61, when he was the newly elected mayor of London at the time, Camilla invited Johnson to Clarence House for a first meeting.\n<\/p>\n Harri said that Camilla shared a deeply personal story from her teenage years during their meeting, related to Johnson’s plan to open three rape crisis centers in London.\n<\/p>\n “[The] serious conversation they had was about her being the victim of an attempted sexual assault when she was a schoolgirl,” Low writes in the book.\n<\/p>\n “She was on a train going to Paddington \u2014 she was about 16, 17 \u2014 and some guy was moving his hand further and further \u2026 ‘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.’ Harri said: ‘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.’ ”\n<\/p>\n Charles and Camilla, circa 1972.<\/p>\n Hulton-Deutsch Collection\/CORBIS\/Corbis via Getty<\/p>\n “The relevance of this conversation was that Johnson at the time wanted to open three rape crisis [centers]. There was already one in south London, and he wanted to open ones in east, west and north London,\u201d Low writes. \u201cHarri said: ‘I think she formally opened two out of three of them. Nobody asked why the interest, why the commitment. But that\u2019s what it went back to.’ ”\n<\/p>\n Buckingham Palace declined to comment when reached by PEOPLE.\n<\/p>\n Camilla has long made supporting victims of rape, domestic violence and sexual abuse a key priority of her public work. In March, she reached out to\u00a0Gis\u00e8le Pelicot<\/a>\u00a0to commend her for her \u201cextraordinary dignity and courage.\u201d\n<\/p>\n The Queen was \u201ctremendously affected\u201d by last year\u2019s rape trial in southern France, which ended with Pelicot\u2019s husband, Dominique, being found guilty of repeatedly drugging and raping his wife of 50 years.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n “As a long-term supporter of survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, the Queen wrote to Madame Pelicot privately,\u201d a royal aide told\u00a0Newsweek<\/a>. \u201cIt was very much her instigation and determination to write to express support from the highest level.”\n<\/p>\n The palace aide said that statement also resonated deeply with Queen Camilla. \u201cAs [Pelicot] rightly put it, why should she be made to feel like a victim or hide away in shame?\u201d\n<\/p>\n “She helped highlight a very significant societal problem despite all the personal suffering she’d been through,\u201d they continued of Camilla\u2019s admiration.\n<\/p>\n King Charles III and Queen Camilla on July 23, 2025.<\/p>\n Max Mumby\/Indigo\/Getty<\/p>\n Last year, the Queen also hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace to recognize supporters of survivors of sexual assault and mark the relaunch of the Wash Bags project, which provides toiletries to those affected by rape and abuse.\n<\/p>\n “Each one of you has a powerful story to tell: whether you work in this country or overseas; whether you are based in a refuge, a Sexual Assault Referral Centre, a charity, Parliament, or, most important of all, you are a survivor,” she said in part during the event, addressing center staff, police officers service users and other guests.\n<\/p>\n Can’t get enough of PEOPLE’s Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter<\/a> to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n She has also been involved in a number of other projects to advocate for victims, including SafeLives, a charity that works to stop domestic violence. In 2024, she also appeared in a TV documentary titled <\/a>Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors<\/a> that followed the Queen as she works to raise awareness of domestic and sexual violence.\n<\/p>\n