Queen's first public duties since book's claim she 'fought off sexual assault'

THE Queen met air ambulance medics and a child entrepreneur during her first public appearances since a book claimed she was the victim of an attempted indecent assault as a teenager.

- By Emily Ferguson Royal Editor

Camilla, 78, undertook three engagements in Cornwall yesterday, less than 48 hours after the claim that she reportedly fought off a man who groped her on a train when she was a schoolgirl aged 16 or 17.

She was said to have responded by doing “what my mother taught me” — taking off her high-heeled shoe and hitting her attacker with it.

The alleged incident is recounted in Power and the Palace: The Inside Story of the Monarchy and 10 Downing Street by former royal reporter Valentine Low.

A source close to the Queen said: “If some good comes of this publication, which is that the wider issues are discussed, it de-stigmatises the whole topic and empowers girls today to take action and seek help and to talk about it, then that’s a good outcome.”