‘It’s incredibly moving’: Camilla hails bravery of domestic abuse survivors as she attends photo exhibition in ITV documentary about her life behind the scenes
- Duchess of Cornwall, 74, appeared in ITV documentary, Camilla’s Country Life
- The intimate film offered a glimpse into Camilla’s childhood and private life
- As Camilla guest edited Country Life magazine she covered domestic violence
- People on Twitter praised the Duchess for her commitment to helping victims
The Duchess of Cornwall has hailed survivors of domestic violence as ‘so brave’ for speaking out about their abuse.
As she was filmed for her new ITV documentary, Camilla’s Country Life, the Duchess, 74, visited an exhibition in Manchester which showed photos of people who had survived domestic abuse.
The documentary followed the Duchess of Cornwall as she guest edited Country Life magazine ahead of her 75th birthday.
Speaking to the film crew Camilla said she wanted to draw attention to the problem of domestic violence in her issue of the magazine.
The Duchess of Cornwall, 74, met with Allie Crewe (left) who photographed survivors of domestic abuse as part of an exhibition
Speaking to the cameras Camilla said she thought survivors of domestic violence were ‘very brave’ to speak about their experiences
The Duchess, who is a patron of the Safelives charity, met with Allie Crewe, who took the photo series of survivors.
Speaking to the film crew, Camilla said: ‘It’s incredibly moving. It’s so brave of these women… to get up and talk about it when some of them have sat on it for years and years and years.’
The Duchess added it was ‘a very brave thing to do’.
Speaking with a male survivor of domestic violence who appeared in Allie’s exhibition, Camilla said she was ‘glad’ to meet him.
The Duchess told him: ‘You were the brave man in the exhibition.
‘I sometimes think men get a bit overlooked. I think people think “it’s all women and it doesn’t happen to men” but it jolly well does.’
Speaking to a male survivor of domestic violence the Duchess of Cornwall said she felt men were ‘overlooked’ when it comes to the issue
Photographer Allie Crewe walked Camilla around the exhibition, which she described as ‘incredibly moving’
The Duchess confirmed she wanted to make a mention of domestic violence in her edition of Country Life – particularly in rural areas.
‘I wanted to point out that in the countryside, it’s not all rosy. There are darker things happening, especially in rural areas where they don’t get quite as much attention as they do in these big cities.’
Viewers took to Twitter to praise Camilla for her work on domestic violence.
One person wrote: ‘I firmly believe that HRH’s work to support those who’ve experience domestic abuse and the related organisations, whilst often passing by under the radar (at her choosing) will be one of the things that defines her work and role in years to come.’
Viewers took to Twitter to praise the Duchess of Cornwall for her work in helping domestic abuse survivors ‘behind the scenes’
Another said: ‘Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall has worked tirelessly behind the scenes around the issue of domestic abuse.
‘She herself created a toiletry pack for survivors of rape after undergoing clinical examinations – they’re now available nationwide.’
The ITV documentary was a rare, intimate glimpse into the life of the Duchess of Cornwall as she reflected her passions in her edition of the magazine.
As well as covering domestic abuse Camilla dedicated pages to gardening, her favourite hobby, and also wrote about Hall Place, a holiday home she used to visit as a child.
The Duchess also used her issue to pay tribute to hatmaker Philip Treacy who designed the headdress for her wedding, and army veteran Harry Parker.
Parker, who lost both of his legs while serving in Afghanistan, always had a passion for art.
After seeing some of his work, Camilla invited Parker to take art classes at the Royal Drawing School.