New Documentary Shows Queen Camilla Fiercely Advocating for Domestic Abuse Survivors: ‘She Helps Them to Feel Safe’

• Queen Camilla, a longtime supporter of domestic abuse survivors, is taking part in a new documentary that will air on Monday, Nov. 11
• The 90-minute film, called Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors, sees the Queen speaking to survivors, a key part of her royal work
• On her recent visit to Australia and Samoa with husband King Charles, Camilla undertook engagements in both countries as part of this aspect of her work

It is a glimpse of Queen Camilla as most people have never seen her.

Her new, often-harrowing documentary Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors shows the Queen’s path as she has worked to break the taboo over the issue of domestic abuse. It also reveals her empathy when she meets women and their families who have experienced domestic abuse and shows her deep understanding of the issue and the help needed for women and girls.  

Though the film doesn’t depict what Camilla and her husband King Charles are like behind the scenes, the film is about what goes on behind far too many closed doors — and in it, the Queen, 77, is giving domestic abuse survivors a voice. It will air on ITV1 in the U.K. on Monday, Nov. 11.

One in five adults (and a quarter of all women) in the U.K. experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, and it is estimated that around three women die by suicide as a result of domestic abuse every week. 

In the 90-minute film, Camilla meets survivors of domestic abuse and talks to the support workers helping give women a new start. As she does, Camilla speaks candidly about what has motivated her over the last decade.

“One of the most difficult things about domestic abuse to understand — it’s not the bruises and the black eyes, which, unfortunately you see, through violence, this is something that creeps up very slowly and, far too often, it ends up with women being killed,” Camilla says in the documentary.

“You meet somebody, you think they’re wonderful and attractive and love you … and then, bit by bit, they start to undermine you. They take away your friends, they take away your family … and then when you start questioning it … these people become very violent,” she continued.

Of one never-before-seen private meeting with Diana Parkes — whose daughter, Joanna Simpson, was killed by her estranged husband — Camilla says, “I think she’s so strong, because not many people would be able to survive the death of their daughter. I admire her more than I can say.”

The film was unveiled to many of the contributors and supporters at a special screening at Buckingham Palace. There, Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, who was a friend of Joanna Simpson and is now chair of the charity Refuge, tells PEOPLE, “Firstly, with every single survivor that I’ve seen her talk to, it’s not about the cameras. She does it privately because she genuinely cares and she genuinely wants them to be at ease.”

“Secondly — honestly, they come out of the conversation with her absolutely buzzing, and they’re buzzing because they were helped to feel very comfortable talking about a very difficult thing,” Barkworth-Nanton continues. “But also because they’ve spoken to the Queen and the Queen listened and showed she cared. You can’t put a price on the difference that makes for survivors, because it lifts them up and they keep going. It’s incredible.”

“It helps them to realize that they can hold their head up high, they don’t need to feel shame. That’s all part of repairing. These women have sometimes gone through decades of being made to feel utterly worthless. So just meeting the Queen and talking about what happened is part of the journey. And takes them further along the journey in terms of starting to feel some real self-esteem and worth,” she adds.

In one scene at a refuge, Camilla sits opposite an unnamed client and empathetically looks across to her over a cup of tea, gently easing her story out of her.

“It doesn’t matter that she’s the Queen and that woman probably is at the lowest point in her life in terms of how she feels about herself,” Barkworth-Nanton says. “And they come together as equals and, having come together as equals, it’s easier to then ask the questions and help to bring them out of themselves because they feel safe. She helps them to feel safe.”

Also featured is actor Sir Patrick Stewart, who talks about witnessing his father’s violence against his mother.

The film also follows the Queen as she celebrates International Women’s Day at Buckingham Palace and concludes with a small reception for a group of survivors who also tell their story in the documentary.

One of those was Rehema Muthamia. Britain’s first black Miss England in 2021, who entered the contest to help raise the issue to the audience of that pageant.

“She was acknowledging us,” Muthamia tells PEOPLE. “Showing that it mattered to her and acknowledging those of us who have been through it [and] have gone through the journey.”

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Muthamia adds, “She’s doing incredibly. For a monarch to take on this — many of us have said we feel shame and guilt for ourselves, but for a member of the royal family to take on this social injustice, it’s very powerful.”

“It could be anyone from any background. It is a respecter of no woman, no man,” she continues.

Queen Camilla has long supported domestic abuse survivors, and on her recent trip to Australia and Samoa alongside King Charles, 75, she took part in a discussion on family and domestic violence in Australia to learn more about what is being done to tackle the issue on Oct. 21 in Canberra.

Later, in Samoa, the Queen delivered a keynote address in recognition of Commonwealth efforts to end gender-based violence on Oct. 24, and the next day opened the Queen Camilla Pre-School of Hope as the Samoa Victims Support Group continues its mission to raise awareness and educate young people about preventing violence against women and girls.

“I just want to do something about this,” the Queen said in a trailer for her forthcoming documentary released on social media on Nov. 1. She adds later in the clip, “With determination and courage, we will succeed.”

“If Her Majesty had one ambition for this documentary, it is not that viewers understand a little bit more about her and her work, but it’s a wish that this documentary will prompt conversations in homes, schools and workplaces across the country,” a Buckingham Palace spokesman says. “Conversations that, if they can happen here in a palace with the Queen, can and should happen everywhere.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.