Queen Camilla meets Gisèle Pelicot, a symbol of the fight against sexual violence
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
PARIS (AP) — Britain’s Queen Camilla told French rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot on Monday that she was left “speechless” by Pelicot’s memoir, as the two met over tea at Clarence House in a private meeting rich with symbolism.
Pelicot, 73, is in Britain at the end of a U.K. tour for her memoir, “A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides,” which was launched Friday at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
The event drew a sellout crowd of more than 2,000, with readings by actors Kate Winslet, Kristin Scott Thomas and Juliet Stevenson.
Camilla welcomed Pelicot and her partner, Jean-Loup Agopian, and the two women spoke for about 30 minutes through an interpreter.
The queen opened in French and joked she had studied the language 60 years ago but had forgotten it.
Camilla, who has long campaigned against domestic violence and sexual abuse, told Pelicot she had read the memoir in just two days.
“I couldn’t put it down,” Camilla said.
“I’ve met so many survivors of rape and sexual abuse I never thought I could be shocked by anything any more, but I was shocked at your case. It left me speechless,” she added.
The meeting came at a fraught moment for the monarchy, as the royal family confronts renewed scrutiny over the fallout from the Andrew-Epstein scandal — a crisis that has again raised questions about accountability, privilege and how institutions respond to sexual abuse.
Against that backdrop, observers said that Camilla’s embrace of Pelicot carried added resonance for a royal household trying to show moral clarity on violence against women.
Pelicot became an international symbol of resilience after waiving her anonymity and declaring that shame belonged with her abusers, not with her.
Her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, was jailed for 20 years for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious over nearly a decade.
Fifty men were found guilty of rape or sexual offenses after a trial in Avignon that ended in December 2024.
During Monday’s meeting, Pelicot spoke of receiving “incredible strength” from supporters.
Camilla replied: “you have so much support.”
Camilla had written to Pelicot last year praising her “extraordinary dignity and courage” — a letter Pelicot has said she now keeps framed in her office.