Queen Camilla was the victim of an attempted sexual assault as a teenager and used the heel of her shoe to fight off her attacker, according to a new book about the monarchy.
The claim appears in Valentine Low's Power and the Palace, serialised in the Sunday Times. It recounts that the Queen told Boris Johnson about the attack while he was mayor of London, a position he held from 2008 to 2016.
Johnson's former communications director, Guto Harri, recalled the meeting at Clarence House, describing how the pair got on well. Harri said the Queen was about 16 or 17 when a man on a train to Paddington began moving his hand towards her. She later said: 'I did what my mother taught me to. I took off my shoe and whacked him in the nuts with the heel.'
Harri added that she remained self-possessed enough to find a uniformed officer on arrival at Paddington, report the attack, and see the man arrested.
The Queen, 78, has long campaigned against domestic violence and sexual abuse, and has dedicated royal charity work to supporting victims. She previously championed the idea of washbags for people who have been attacked, an initiative recently revived.
