Queen Camilla made an outing to Cornwall as she made her first appearance since it was revealed that she had suffered an alleged sexual assault attempt as a teenager.
Camilla returned to her royal duties on Tuesday, just a day after revelations of an attempted sexual assault were published, as the 78-year-old visited some of her patronages in Cornwall. She started her day in Truro visiting ShelterBox, a charity which delivers emergency disaster relief to communities impacted by natural disasters or conflict, as the organisation marked its 25th anniversary. The royal was seen meeting with staff and volunteers at the organisation and was given a subsequent tour of the facility. She became involved with the charity in 2006 after coming across it during her royal tour of Pakistan in the same year.
At the time, Camilla and King Charles were on a five-day trip to the country. During the trip, the royal couple visited a village in the country that had been impacted by an earthquake in 2005. 1,600 people in the village had died in the disaster, which claimed 73,000 lives in the country. Camilla later became the group’s president in 2007 and the charity’s patron in 2021.
Touring the facility
Camilla was given a tour of the facility, where she met volunteers at the organisation.
Meeting the team
Camilla has been involved with the charity for several years, she first came across their work during a trip to Pakistan in 2006.
Commemorative plaque
The royal finished off her visit to the facility by revealing a plaque, marking the group’s 25th anniversary.
Second outing of the day
The Queen’s second outing of the day saw her travel to Newquay where she visited the Wave House Church, which thanks to the Cornwall Community Fund has provided £117,000 to support local projects in the area.
Meeting the public
As she arrived in Newquay, Camilla met with members of the public, including Eliana Daka, who presented her with three beeswax candles she had made at home.
Camilla asked: “Are these candles? These are for me?” before adding: “Oh brilliant, thank you very much indeed.”
Eliana introduced herself and explained that she runs her own small candle business from home.
Camilla told her she was “very impressed” and said Eliana was “enterprising”.
What a way to cut a cake
To mark her visit to the Cornwall Community Foundation, Camilla cut an iced cake with a heart-shaped design.
Visit to Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust
The Queen’s third and final engagement of the day was to open the new operations unit of Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust’s Headquarters. Camilla has served as Patron of the Cornwall Air Ambulance since 2009.
New helicopter
During her engagement, the Queen formally named the charity’s new G-C.N.L.I. helicopter.
Attempted sexual assault
Camilla’s visit came shortly after new claims emerged that King Charles’ wife had once allegedly fought off an attacker when she was still a teenager. 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.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s 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. At that point [Boris] 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 reportedly told Johnson, who was Mayor of London at the time, because the politician was looking to open three rape crisis centres at the time. “I think she formally opened two out of three of them,” Guto said. “Nobody asked why the interest, why the commitment. But that’s what it went back to.” Buckingham Palace has declined to comment.