Ms Pelicot’s ex-husband was jailed for 20 years for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her.
The Queen has told French rape survivor Gisele Pelicot she was left “speechless” by the account of her ordeal in her new memoir.
Camilla invited Ms Pelicot, 73, to her official London residence as her UK tour promoting the book drew to close and told her guest she read the memoir in just two days, unable to put it down.
The launch of Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides, was held at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Friday, with readings given by Hollywood actresses Kate Winslet, Dame Kristin Scott Thomas and Juliet Stevenson.
The Queen wrote to the 73-year-old last year to praise her “extraordinary dignity and courage” in a letter the survivor said left her “overwhelmed” and which is now framed in her office.
When the two women sat down over tea at Clarence House for a 30-minute meeting, Camilla said about the memoir: “I read it in the last two days, I couldn’t put it down.
“I’ve met so many survivors of rape and sexual abuse I never thought I could be shocked by anything any more, but I was shocked at your case – it left me speechless.”
Ms Pelicot’s ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, was jailed for 20 years for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious, in abuse which lasted nearly a decade.
The 73-year-old, who waived her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse, said shame should fall on her abusers, not her.
Fifty men were found guilty of rape or sexual offences after a three-and-a-half-month trial in Avignon, which ended in December 2024.
Ms Pelicot was joined by her partner, Jean-Loup Agopian and her literary and legal team and she talked to the Queen through an interpreter.
Camilla’s opening words after greeting her guest and her partner were in French and she joked how she studied the language “60 years ago” but had “forgotten” it all.
During the informal chat, Ms Pelicot talked about receiving “incredible strength” from people and in response the Queen told the 73-year-old “you have so much support”.
Camilla who has long campaigned against domestic violence and sexual abuse was aware of the book launch and mentioned the standing ovations the survivor received from the sellout audience of more than 2,000.
