Camilla makes first appearance since revelation she fought off sexual assault

The Queen has made her first public appearance since the revelation she fought off a man who groped her on a train when she was a teenager.

Camilla toured the headquarters of the international disaster relief charity ShelterBox and learned about the latest equipment used by the organisation she supports as patron.

Since it was founded in 2000, more than three million people displaced by conflict, natural disasters or the climate crisis have been helped in around 100 countries by the charity based in Truro, Cornwall.

The Queen was all smiles when she arrived at the charity’s offices in Truro following the revelation at the weekend she did “what my mother taught me” and took off her shoe to fend off the man, as she travelled to London’s Paddington station in the early 1960s.

Camilla has kept the incident private, preferring to focus on survivors of domestic violence and sexual assaults she has supported for many years, but it has been featured in a new book with extracts published on Sunday.

The attack is recounted in the book Power And The Palace: The Inside Story Of The Monarchy And 10 Downing Street by Valentine Low, a former royal reporter for The Times newspaper.

A source close to the Queen has said: “If some good comes of this publication, which is that the wider issues are discussed, it de-stigmatises the whole topic and empowers girls today to take action and seek help and to talk about it, then that’s a good outcome.”

During her tour the Queen was shown ShelterBox’s green boxes, now no longer used, and reflected “from small beginnings” and said: “Unfortunately you’re needed more and more – that’s the problem.”

Camilla gave an impromptu speech during a plaque unveiling to mark her visit and joked about the moment she came across ShelterBox’s work during an official visit to Pakistan.

She made the gathered staff, volunteers and supporters laugh when she said: “I can’t believe it’s 18 years since seeing the two good-looking Cornishmen come up in Pakistan after the earthquake there, I couldn’t believe my eyes I thought ‘what on earth are they doing’ with a mule and a box on top?

“So I went back and found out a little bit more about this wonderful charity and, after that, the rest is history as they say.”

Camilla spent the day in Cornwall and later travelled to Newquay where she visited projects supported by Cornwall Community Foundation, of which she is patron.

She ended her time in the county by opening the new operations unit at Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust’s headquarters on the outskirts of Newquay and formally named the organisation’s new helicopter as the Duke of Cornwall.

The Queen has been the air ambulance’s patron since 2009 and minutes after she left its first helicopter was called out on a mission.

Published: 02/09/2025 by Radio NewsHub