Duchess of Cornwall reveals first-hand experience of having friends suffer domestic abuse

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall attends a National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in Westminster
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Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, confessed domestic violence is happening far more often than we think during a telling visit to a women's refuge in Berkshire.

The Duchess of Cornwall engaged in a passionate and candid conversation about how domestic abuse cases have risen during lockdown whilst speaking to 18 female survivors on a royal engagement to a women's refuge in Reading, Berkshire.

Camilla, 73 - who is patron of charity, SafeLives, and has previously sent emotional words of support to abuse victims - confessed she's had friends of her own that have been in abusive relationships, some of whom wouldn't even recognise it as such.

She told The Telegraph, "Well I think if you've known somebody then it really does hit home. You feel, 'goodness, this is probably going on under my nose and I didn't know about it'."

Camilla said it had a deeply personal effect on her, when friends have suffered at the hands of domestic abuse.

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"And that makes you feel guilty, in a way, that you weren't there to help at the time you were probably most needed."

More than two million women report domestic abuse every year. And, according to Andrea West, CEO of Berkshire's Women's Aid, referrals more than tripled during covid-19 lockdown.

In response to this, Boots and pharmacies across the UK have introduced a new codeword that offers a lifeline to domestic violence victims - a scheme Camilla fully supports.

The Duchess hailed the 'Ask for ANI' domestic abuse codeword campaign as "pure brilliance because it's so simple, yet it's so effective". She promised to do "anything to help".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZDV0Fdb4ww

During her most recent visit to the refuge, Camilla went on to say that nobody really knows what happens behind close doors of a relationship.

"I've certainly known people who have suffered... suffered from it. You think, 'oh well, domestic abuse means that somebody's hit you occasionally when you've had a row or somebody's gone too far,' but you've got no idea what really goes on in most relationships."

Georgia Farquharson
Celebrity writer

Georgia is a Celebrity and Royal Writer working across GoodTo and Woman & Home, and the Director and Founder of communications company Farq Media. Prior to this she was Online Editor at New! Magazine – managing all of their digital content and social media accounts. Where she interviewed all of the hottest reality TV stars and spent far too much time commuting to London. She trained at Nottingham Trent University – where she achieved First Class Honours in Print Journalism whilst juggling copious amounts of work experience, freelance writing, blogging and having far too much fun with the dance society. 

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