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  "path": "/royal/queen-camilla-madame-gisele-pelicot",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-23T18:52:20.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Zara and Mike Tindall quietly leave UK with their three children",
    "It is no wonder Prince William feels on edge as pressure builds on future king",
    "Australia backs removing Andrew from line of succession in crunch talks with Keir Starmer",
    "letter",
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  "textContent": "\n\n\nQueen Camilla has met French rape survivor Madame Gisele Pelicot at Clarence House, admitting she was \"shocked\" after hearing her story.\n\nHer Majesty sat down with Ms Pelicot, 73, who was awarded the Legion of Honour in 2025, following her display of courage waiving her right to anonymity in France's largest rape trial.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nWhilst sitting down with Ms Pelicot, Camilla said: \"I've spoken to so many survivors, and I never thought I could be shocked by anything before, but I was shocked, speechless.\"\n\nThe Queen has a history of working and supporting survivors of sexual and domestic abuse and previously wrote to Ms Pelicot following the trial in 2024.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMs Pelicot said she was \"crushed by horror\" after discovering her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, had repeatedly drugged her unconscious for years and invited dozens of men to rape her.\n\nShe told the BBC \"something exploded inside me... It was like a tsunami!\" upon discovering the extent of her former partner's crimes.\n\nHer ex was jailed for 20 years for abuse that lasted nearly a decade.\n\nThe 73-year-old survivor has published her memoir, A Hymn To Life, where she described how phoning her three children with the news of what their father did was one of the hardest experiences in her life.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Zara and Mike Tindall quietly leave UK with their three children\n  * It is no wonder Prince William feels on edge as pressure builds on future king\n  * Australia backs removing Andrew from line of succession in crunch talks with Keir Starmer\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMs Pelicot said: \"I was well aware that for my children it was going to be immensely difficult.\"\n\nShe recalled her children's reactions, saying: \"I heard my daughter scream. It was almost inhuman, that scream.\"\n\nHer eldest son was in shock, while her youngest immediately asked how she was.\n\nMs Pelicot added: \"They realised I was alone, and that I might do something stupid. For them, too, it was like an explosion.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nShe continued: \"For more than four years, I carried this shame. And I felt that it was like a double punishment for victims, and a suffering we imposed on ourselves.\"\n\nMs Pelicot's lawyers gave her a week to decide whether to waive her anonymity, which she did the following morning.\n\nExplaining why, she said: \"I have never regretted my decision, not once. It was also a message to all victims who don't dare to do the same… It could give them some of the strength I found in me.\n\n\"Because within us we have resources that we don't even suspect. And if I was able to do this, all victims can too. I am convinced of this.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nFifty men were found guilty of rape or sexual offences after a three-and-a-half-month trial in Avignon, which ended in December 2024.\n\nUpon receiving the letter from the Queen, Ms Pelicot said: \"It was an honour for me to receive this letter, I wasn't expecting it at all.\"\n\nShe described feeling \"overwhelmed that the Queen could send me this letter\".\n\nThe correspondence came as a complete surprise to Ms Pelicot, who commented: \"Although my words touched the whole world, I wasn't expecting a letter from the Court of England.\"\n\nIn her letter, she told Ms Pelicot that she had \"inspired women across the globe\" and \"created a powerful legacy that will change the narrative around shame, forever\".\n\n\"Thank you for all that you have done,\" the Queen wrote.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards:The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Queen Camilla meets French rape survivor as royal admits she was 'shocked' after hearing her story"
}