Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall is now at the heart of the royal family. In her ascension day message which begins a year of celebrations to mark seventy years on the throne, the Queen said that once Prince Charles becomes King, her sincere wish is that Camilla will be at his side as Queen Consort.

It's recognition for her loyalty, and her work campaigning on a variety of causes and in particular that of domestic abuse. It was a meeting in 2016 with a woman called Diana Parkes that inspired the Duchess.

Diana's daughter Joanna Simpson was battered to death by her estranged husband in 2010 with their two children within earshot. After the killing, Diana setup a foundation to help transform the lives of children impacted by domestic violence and it was at a meeting of the charity SafeLives that she first met the Duchess. In our interview we reunite them at Clarence House to hear how her story has inspired the work of a future Queen.

Emma also speaks to the clinical psychologist David Trickey from the child mental health charity the Anna Freud Centre and to Baroness Floella Benjamin who campaigned to get the new Domestic Abuse Act through parliament and she’s also a Vice President of the children’s charity Barnardos.


Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Editor: Karen Dalziel
Studio Manager: Bob Nettles