Rape survivor Gisele Pelicot said she was deeply moved by a letter from Queen Camilla, who lauded the ‘extraordinary dignity’ Pelicot showed throughout the harrowing legal proceedings against her husband.
Camilla, who has long campaigned against domestic violence and sexual abuse, praised Ms Pelicot’s ‘extraordinary dignity and courage’ in the letter.
Ms Pelicot’s ex-husband Dominique Pelicot was jailed for 20 years for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious, in abuse which lasted nearly a decade.
The 73-year-old, who waived her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse, said shame should fall on her abusers, not her.
Emerging as a global icon of strength and feminism, Ms Pelicot drew daily crowds to the 15-week Avignon trial, where supporters gathered with signs to champion her courage and demand justice.
Ms Pelicot said their presence gave her strength as she endured what she described as humiliating and painful proceedings inside.
Fifty men were found guilty of rape or sexual offences after a three-and-a-half-month trial in Avignon, which ended in December 2024.
Her former husband has also admitted to a 1999 attempted rape after a DNA match, and is under investigation in connection with the 1991 killing of an estate agent. He denies murder.
Gisele Pelicot was at the centre of the largest rape trial in French history. For almost a decade, she had been drugged unconscious by her husband Dominique Pelicot and raped by dozens of men he had recruited on internet chat rooms
The Queen said to Ms Pelicot in her letter: ‘I very much wanted to write to express my heartfelt admiration for the courage, grace and dignity with which you have faced the horrific crimes committed against you’
In a moving exchange with Victoria Derbyshire, Ms Pelicot described the ‘inconceivable’ shock of discovering that the man she loved was capable of such horrific crimes
During an interview with BBC Newsnight, she explained how she firmly rejected attempts by defence lawyers to characterise the footage as ‘sex scenes’ while in court.
‘A sex scene is when you consent,’ she said.
‘These were scenes of rape. They were crime scenes.’
She said she had carried shame for four years before deciding to oppose a closed trial and waive her anonymity.
The Queen said to Ms Pelicot in her letter: ‘I very much wanted to write to express my heartfelt admiration for the courage, grace and dignity with which you have faced the horrific crimes committed against you.’
Speaking to Victoria Derbyshire, Ms Pelicot said: ‘It was an honour for me to receive this letter, I wasn’t expecting it at all.
‘I was overwhelmed that the Queen could send me this letter.
‘Although my words touched the whole world, I wasn’t expecting a letter from the Court of England.
The 73-year-old waived her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse
Speaking to Victoria Derbyshire, Ms Pelicot said: ‘It was an honour for me to receive this letter, I wasn’t expecting it at all
Ms Pelicot’s ex-husband Dominique Pelicot was jailed for 20 years for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious, in abuse which lasted nearly a decade
‘I felt moved and very honoured that she had become aware of what had happened to me. I am grateful to her.’
Last year, Camilla praised the ‘brilliant’ efforts of health workers and other staff supporting sexual assault victims at a specialist centre she officially opened in Exeter.
Opening a new Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Exeter, Queen Camilla heard firsthand from a survivor about the ‘difference’ the specialised facility had made to her life.
The Queen has dedicated her royal charity work to supporting victims of sexual assault and a number of years ago, championed the idea of washbags for those attacked, an idea that has recently been revived.
In an ITV documentary last year, she vowed she would ‘keep trying’ to end domestic violence, until she is ‘able to no more’, and was followed over the course of a year for the programme looking at her work in the field.
