Queen Camilla ‘fought off sexual assault’ by stranger on a train as a teenager, new book claims

The Queen was reportedly the victim of an attempted sexual assault as a schoolgirl, and succeeded in fending off her attacker with the heel of her shoe, a new book has claimed.

Queen Camilla disclosed the story to Boris Johnson during his time as mayor of London, the book titled Power And The Palace claimed.

According to an extract, the author, former Times royal correspondent Valentine Low, spoke to Mr Johnson’s former communications director Guto Harri who recalled Mr Johnson telling him about the meeting that took place at Clarence House in around 2008.

In the extract, published in the Sunday Times, Mr Harri said of the pair: “They obviously got on like a house on fire.

open image in gallery

“He (Mr Johnson) was making guttural noises about how much he admired and liked her.

“But the serious conversation they had was about her being the victim of an attempted sexual assault when she was a schoolgirl.

“She was on a train going to Paddington — she was about 16, 17 — and some guy was moving his hand further and further…”

Mr Harri said that after Mr Johnson asked what she did next, Camilla had 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 has long campaigned against domestic violence and sexual abuse and has dedicated her royal charity work to supporting victims of sexual assault.

A number of years ago she championed the idea of washbags for people who have attacked, an idea that has recently been revived.

In an ITV documentary last year, she vowed to “keep trying” to end domestic violence, until she is “able to no more”, and was followed over the course of a year for the programme looking at her work in the field.