Duchess of Cornwall says Queen Consort title will help her causes

The Duchess of Cornwall has said having the title of Queen Consort will help to highlight causes she supports, such as preventing domestic violence.

In a BBC interview, Camilla said it was a "great honour" when the Queen said she wanted her to receive the title when the Prince of Wales becomes King.

Camilla vowed to campaign for victims of domestic violence throughout her lifetime.

The duchess also called for a "culture change" to stop violence against women.

She was speaking at Clarence House where she was reunited with Diana Parkes, whose daughter Joanna Simpson was killed by her estranged husband within earshot of her two children in 2010.

A foundation set up by Mrs Parkes in her daughter's honour now offers support to young people traumatised by domestic abuse.

The duchess said Mrs Parkes's story inspired her to become a domestic abuse campaigner when they first met in 2016, leaving the duchess visibly moved and pledging to do "anything I can" to help raise the issue.

During the interview with Emma Barnett for Woman's Hour and BBC Breakfast, the duchess said the title of Queen Consort - endorsed by the Queen in a public statement earlier this month - would aid her campaigning.

"Of course it's a great honour, it couldn't be anything else. But it does help it. I'm going to keep up with these causes," she said.

"You know if I start something like this, I'm not going to, to give up mid-channel, I'm just going to keep going to try and help people like Diana. I hope I should be doing it for a lifetime."

The duchess said a culture change to tackle violence against women should begin early in life.

"I think children at school have got to be taught respect," she said. "We have got to go back to the beginnings and just build up this idea that you have to have respect for human beings, it's lack of respect. It's treating women like chattels and people thinking they can get away with it."

She said lockdown was "terrible" for domestic abuse victims because they could not escape. Calls to helplines surged by 60% and campaigners described it as an epidemic beneath the pandemic.

"But on the other hand, I think it's drawn a lot of people's attention to it. I think it's talked about much more now," she added.

"[Lockdown] also brought out things into the open that we wouldn't have necessarily talked about before… and I think, with domestic abuse, this is exactly what happened."

Camilla also said the Queen's Jubilee marked an opportunity for people to celebrate.

"It's always lovely to have something happy to look forward to, isn't it? I mean, we've all been through hard times. We've all been locked away from our family and friends. And now we could all get together again and celebrate."

If you or someone you know has been affected by domestic abuse or violence, these organisations may be able to help.