World

Queen Camilla writes personal letter to rape survivor Gisele Pelicot

07:24 am on 14 March 2025
Gisele Pelicot leaves the courthouse after hearing the verdict of the court that sentenced her ex-husband to the maximum term of 20 years jail for committing and orchestrating her mass rapes with dozens of strangers he recruited online, in Avignon on December 19, 2024. - Dominique Pelicot, who had already confessed to the crimes, was earlier found guilty by the court in the southern city of Avignon after an over three-month trial that shocked France and turned his former wife Gisele into a feminist hero. His 50 co-defendants in the case were also convicted by the court, with no acquittals. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP)

Gisele Pelicot leaving court. Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP

Queen Camilla has written a personal letter to Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot, who was drugged and raped by her now ex-husband and strangers he enlisted online.

A lawyer for Pelicot confirmed to news agency AFP she had received a letter from Buckingham Palace, but did not divulge its "private" contents.

Multiple news organisations, including AFP and the BBC, have cited palace sources in saying Camilla wrote the letter.

The Queen, 77, has long been a vocal campaigner to improve support for survivors of rape and abuse.

A palace source told Newsweek magazine the letter was written at the queen's "instigation".

"She was tremendously affected by the Madame Pelicot case in France and that lady's extraordinary dignity and courage," the palace source said.

Britain's Queen Camilla reacts as she attends a Musical Evening at Salisbury Cathedral, in Salisbury, England, on February 8, 2024, to celebrate the work of local charities. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth / POOL / AFP)

Queen Camilla. Photo: Supplied/AFP

"Because as she rightly put it, why should she be made to feel like a victim or hide away in shame?"

A source with knowledge of the letter confirmed to AFP that it had been sent by Camilla, but Buckingham palace did not want to comment publicly.

Lawyer Camus told Le Monde daily that Pelicot was "flabbergasted, touched and very proud to see that she succeeded in bringing her fight to attention of the royal family in England".

Pelicot's ex-husband Dominique was tried in France alongside 50 other men and sentenced to 20 years for aggravated rape.

Dozens of men who visited the family home to rape Pelicot, who was unconscious after being drugged by her husband, were handed terms of between three and 15 years. Some are now appealing their sentences.

Pelicot, 72, was hailed as a hero for waiving her anonymity and said she "never regretted" opening the trial to the public.

She said after the trial she was now thinking of the "unrecognised victims whose stories often remain in the shadows".

More than 173,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded to Ms Pelicot.

- AFP