Tears were shed by viewers this week as Queen Camilla captured hearts with her profound opening remarks in the ITV documentary, ‘Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors’. Broadcast on Monday night, this intimate 90-minute feature delved into a year of The Queen’s duties, providing a rare glimpse into her behind-the-scenes liaisons with survivors of domestic abuse.
Engaging deeply in conversations with several women affected by such violence, Camilla also heard powerful stories shared by other survivors, including revered actor Sir Patrick Stewart. This cause is deeply important to Queen Camilla, who has actively worked to raise awareness about domestic violence against women since 2010 and became Patron of SafeLives, a charity tackling domestic abuse, in 2020, reports Gloucestershire Live.
Gracing the documentary’s opening, Camilla said: “By scratching the surface, you get a terrible shock. It’s such a terrible, very sad, heinous crime. If we could just get more people discussing it, talking about it.”
She further commented: “People are so shocked by what they hear, rather like me, that they want to say, ‘Hang on a minute. Perhaps there’s something that we can help with to hopefully, in the end, put an end to it.”
Viewers were deeply affected by the raw emotional impact of the new documentary, with social media lighting up immediately. One viewer was moved to declare: “What a powerful documentary sharing the shocking realities for far too many people,” and their comment was poignantly underlined with a crying emoji.
Echoing the widespread response, another follower on Twitter added: “Watching this and very moved. Thank you.”
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One viewer was struck by the programme’s empathy, saying: “The #QueenCamilla documentary on @ITV is very moving already. I suspect the scale of domestic violence and abuse would shock most of us, and Her Majesty’s compassion is clear to see. We must do more to support victims, from first contact with police to help re-starting lives.”
Another agreed, focusing on a wider recognition of domestic abuse victims: “Watching Her Majesty The Queen, Behind Closed Doors and I am pleased that there has been acknowledgment that there are male victims of domestic violence too. #QueenCamilla is doing wonderful work for the subject.”
In one of its most poignant moments, the Queen engaged in an emotional dialogue with Diana Parkes, whose daughter, Joanna Simpson, was murdered by her estranged husband. Recalling their previous encounter, Camilla confided: “I am honestly never going to forget that meeting. It is engraved in my heart.”
Reflecting upon their first meeting at a SafeLives event, Camilla recounted: “I remember seeing you and I thought, ‘Goodness. That’s somebody of my generation.’ I tried to put myself in your shoes. I thought to myself, ‘What if it had been my daughter?'”
“I don’t think I would have been able to sit and be this dignified as you were that day,” she added.
Camilla went on to recall Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, Joanna’s close friend, who spoke publicly about her death for the first time. “My reaction I’m afraid was to cry,” the Queen admitted.
“I looked around and there was a lot of police and hard-nosed journalists sitting around – there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”
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