Camilla visits police force to learn about work to tackle sexual violence

The Queen is visiting the Avon and Somerset Police headquarters to hear about the force’s work tackling domestic abuse and sexual violence.

Camilla arrived at the site in Portishead, Bristol, on Thursday morning.

She was met by Chief Constable Sarah Crew, as well as Superintendent Sharon Baker, a domestic abuse survivor who set up a network to support colleagues also experiencing abuse.

Ms Baker appeared in the ITV documentary Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors, which followed Camilla over the course of a year to look at her work in this field.

The Queen has supported survivors of sex attacks and domestic abuse for many years and it was recently revealed that she fought off a man who attacked her on a train when she was a teenager.

Her visit comes amid the ongoing scandal surrounding the King’s brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the continuing revelations emerging from millions of US documents relating to his paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.

Thames Valley Police said on Wednesday it has held discussions with specialist prosecutors from the Crown Prosecution Service about allegations that Andrew shared confidential reports from his role as the UK’s trade envoy with sex offender Epstein and “is making progress as quickly as possible”.

The King’s decision to strip the former Duke of York of his honours and titles last year was reported to have been in part influenced by the Queen’s concerns, with Camilla said to have been appalled at Andrew’s association with Epstein, believing the controversy was impacting on her work with sexual abuse victims.

The late Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who died by suicide last year, accused Andrew of sexual abuse, saying the duke had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by Epstein.

The former prince has always vehemently denied the claims.

Fresh allegations against eighth in line to the throne Andrew from the Epstein files also include that a second woman was sent to the UK by Epstein for a sexual encounter with the then-duke, and that Andrew and Epstein asked an exotic dancer for a threesome in the latter’s Florida home.

On Monday, Buckingham Palace said it would “stand ready to support” the police if approached over the claims, after Thames Valley Police said it was assessing the suggestions of a leak by Andrew.

A spokesman for the Palace added that the King had made clear his “profound concern” at allegations relating to Andrew’s conduct and that the monarch and the Queen’s “thoughts and sympathies have been, and remain with, the victims of any and all forms of abuse”.

At the police headquarters, Camilla is set to tour the control room and speak to a 999 call handler about dealing with domestic abuse calls.

She will hear about initiatives developed by the force to support survivors, including Project Blue Light which aims to overhaul the way it deals with domestic abuse by opening its doors to a team of academics to conduct an analysis of its processes.

It comes off the back of the pilot Project Bluestone in which academics combed through its approach to rape and serious sexual assault in 2021 to provide recommendations on how to increase charge rates and improve support and engagement with survivors.

The Bluestone model was later rolled out across all forces nationally under the Home Office-funded Operation Soteria.