Queen left speechless by Pelicot rape ordeal

THE Queen said mass-rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot’s “shocking” story left her “speechless” as she hosted the courageous 73-year-old at Clarence House yesterday.

- BY EMILY FERGUSON Royal Editor

Camilla — a longstanding campaigner on domestic and sexual violence — admitted she “could not put down” Ms Pelicot’s harrowing new memoir.

Her Majesty previously wrote to the French woman, commending her “courage” and “grace” for waiving her right to anonymity in a horrific rape case involving her ex-husband and 50 other men.

Ms Pelicot has become a global hero and worldwide symbol in the struggle against sexual violence.

The horrors she endured were widely publicised during a trial in France lasting nearly four months.

Camilla invited Ms Pelicot to her official London residence as a UK tour promoting the book drew to a close. She told her guest she read the memoir in just two days.