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Queen Camilla makes first appearance after Easter break for cause close to her heart

Her Majesty spent last week in Scotland with King Charles

2 days ago
Queen Camilla wearing leopard print dress
Danielle Stacey
Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
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The Queen hosted young changemakers at Buckingham Palace as she resumed her royal duties after the Easter break on Tuesday.

Camilla, 76, is continuing to raise awareness around the issue of domestic abuse and at her latest engagement for her patronage, SafeLives, she backed a nationwide scheme. 

Her Majesty welcomed four young advocates, aged 15 to 20, from the charity in the music room at the palace and suggested they should host "pop-up shops" in schools to help their peers with important life issues.

One changemaker, Maya, 20, told Camilla, 76, that they had recently taken the campaign to Parliament and met the Education Secretary to lobby for changes to national academic guidance.

Maya told Her Majesty: "Children need to feel less alone and feel stronger. Part of our work is about reach and that’s why we took our campaign to Parliament. We met Gillian Keegan and discussed ways they are trying to change the curriculum, it’s absolutely vital we can make changes."

The Queen responded: "You're virtually the same age as my granddaughters and I was talking to one the other day and I was suggesting to take sort of pop-up shops into these schools.

"You know, say two or three changemakers, it would be such a good idea because then they could all come and ask questions. To get around [all these] schools would be a brilliant idea."

Queen Camilla sitting at the table with SafeLives changemakers© Getty
Queen Camilla has been patron of SafeLives since 2020

Camilla is grandmother to Tom Parker Bowles' two children, Lola, 16, and Frederick. 13, and her daughter Laura Lopes' three children, Eliza, 16, and 14-year-old twins, Gus and Louis.

Queen Camilla with SafeLives Changemakers© Getty
Camilla with SafeLives Changemakers - Imi, Maya, Almas and Lybah

Lybah, 17, then told the Queen of the Changemakers' plan to teach young people about the signs that their friends may be victims of domestic violence or toxic relationships. 

She said: "It can be a lot of intuition of being a friend or a best friend, but we have to give young people the tools to recognise certain signs that their friend could be suffering."

Queen Camilla speaking to SafeLives changemakers at Buckingham Palace© Getty
Queen Camilla called for ‘pop-up shops’ in schools to help with domestic abuse issues

Camilla replied: "Your generation, and every generation, I think it's being able to spot when somebody is down. So, I think it's especially difficult when you're much younger because people don't really want to admit - do they? I have found this in talking to older people as well, by talking about their experiences, when they talk about it, it becomes easier."

The Queen added: "It's a brilliant project what you are doing and it's certainly something you could talk about in schools. It's getting it into the system and when you get it into the classes more people can get involved."

SafeLives campaigns to end domestic abuse and in 2020 Camilla became the patron of the organisation which recognises children and young people as victims in their own right.

The Changemakers’ mission to end domestic abuse has seen the group involved in a variety of projects, including addressing harmful and toxic behaviours in early relationships, researching what causes young people to display abusive behaviours, shaping the national Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum and redefining young people’s relationship to the police. 

The Queen with the changemakers, Chief Executive Ellen Miller, Chair of Trustees Isabel Boyer and young persons authentic voice coordinator Kristie Waller© Getty
The Queen with the changemakers, Chief Executive Ellen Miller, Chair of Trustees Isabel Boyer and young persons authentic voice coordinator Kristie Waller

Ellen Miller, the SafeLives chief executive who joined the meeting, said: "Our research shows that children and young people are too often being let down.

"They want more from their relationships and sex education classes, and they are being continually missed by professionals and misunderstood by the adults around them. They rarely see themselves reflected in the domestic abuse services that exist.

"I know after meeting the Changemakers, Her Majesty felt energised and renewed in her commitment to stopping abuse before it starts, before it ruins lives."

The outing marked Queen Camilla's first public engagement since the Easter Sunday service in Windsor in March – her husband King Charles' first significant appearance since his cancer diagnosis.

The monarch, 75, who is currently undergoing treatment, was pictured being driven through London on Tuesday.

It comes after the King and Queen spent a few days at their Scottish home, Birkhall, last week, where they celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary.

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