Queen Camilla teams up with all-female crew for documentary about domestic violence

Queen Camilla has granted unprecedented access to Her Majesty the Queen: behind closed doorsa new documentary about her work on domestic violence, which will be broadcast on Monday, November 11.

Camillawho has long advocated greater awareness around domestic violencehad a camera crew film her at Clarence House, where she lives with King Charles, and during a series of meetings where the royal family held meetings with survivors and activists.

The queen, who has been dealing with domestic violence for more than ten years and is a patron of charities Refuge, Women’s Aid And SafeLifeagreed to take part in production company Love Monday’s documentary for ITV, to raise awareness of the issue.

“One of the most difficult things about domestic violence is to understand: it is not the bruises and black eyes that you unfortunately see because of violence. This is something that creeps up very slowly and far too often ends with women being murdered,” Camilla says in the film. ‘You meet someone, you think they’re amazing and attractive and love you… and then little by little they start to undermine you. They take your friends, they take your family… and then when you start to question it… these people become very violent.”

The 90-minute film tells the story of six survivors of domestic violence and includes interviews with former Prime Minister Theresa May, Cherie Blair, Dame Helen Mirren and actor Patrick Stewart, a Refuge Ambassador.

Her Royal Highness also met with Diana Parkes, whose daughter, Joanna Simpson, was murdered by her estranged husband. Moved by the experience, Camilla says: ‘I think she is so strong because not many people could survive the death of their daughter. I admire her more than I can say.”

It’s the first time Queen Camilla has allowed cameras to film her doing such personal work. Executive producer Naveed Chowdhary-Flatt said Camilla was “very warm and receptive”.

“The Queen has been very generous with her time and has given our cameras exclusive access over the past year to document the work she does on domestic abuse, which has largely remained behind closed doors until now. “The Queen has been working in this field for ten years. We wanted to make a film that tells the story of the important work she does.”

The Palace also granted the filmmakers access to numerous assignments, including visits to a refuge. According to Chowdhary-Flatt: “We were an all-female crew and we were given remarkable access to the Queen, but also to the charities the Queen works with. They helped us find people who wanted to talk about their experiences anonymously and sometimes for the first time.”

She added: ‘You hear a lot about ‘The Queen is good with people’, but when you see her walking around the sanctuary you are struck by how genuine her work is. She is not just a mouthpiece and this is not a fluffy issue. It’s hard and terrible and she has been willing to put her name and face to this cause. She really listens to these people and cares about their stories, and she remembers people. We didn’t have to inform her once. What surprised me was her knowledge and it is clear that she really knows her subject.”

Theresa May, who made Coercive and controlling behavior is a violation during her term as Prime Minister, says in the film: “I think it is incredibly important that Her Majesty takes an interest in this issue. We’ve come a long way… but unfortunately there’s still more to do. The police receive a call about domestic violence every thirty seconds.”

In the documentary, Queen Camilla promises to continue her lobbying work. “Don’t kid ourselves, it’s going to take a long time, because it’s been taking forever. It’s been going on since the beginning of time. But I think if you look at the steps we’ve made since the bad old days, we’ve made tremendous progress, and I’ll keep trying until I’m no longer able to,” she says.

This article originally appeared on Vanity fair.