The Queen has sent a letter of support to French mass rape victim Gisèle Pelicot.
An envelope bearing the seal of the British royal family arrived among thousands of letters of support to Ms Pelicot, following her fight against her husband and the men who raped her.
“She was stunned, moved and quite proud to see that she had managed to take the fight to the British royal family,” Ms Pelicot’s lawyer Antoine Camus told Le Monde .
Ms Pelicot emerged as a courageous symbol against rape culture as her husband was jailed for drugging her and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her while he filmed it. The three-month mass-rape trial in France last autumn saw 51 men convicted for a total of 428 years. Retired electrician Pelicot was jailed for the maximum term of 20 years.
The 72-year-old bravely chose to waive her anonymity in the trial which took place in Mazan village in southeastern France.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the contents of the private letter. But Camilla was said to have been “tremendously effected” by Ms Pelicot’s battle and wanted to recognise her “dignity and courage”, Newsweek reports.
The letter comes after Ms Pelicot told sexual violence survivors they “will never be alone” in a powerful message shared with The Independent marking International Women’s Day.
As The Independent named her the most influential woman of 2025, Ms Pelicot highlighted victims are still battling for justice – especially those who are doing so alone and “in the dark”.
Several months have passed since the Mazan trial ended but Ms Pelicot’s lawyers, Mr Camus and Stéphane Babonneau, say they continue to send her a box full of letters every week, according to Le Monde.
“There hasn’t been a day since the end of the trial when I haven’t had to think about it, not a day when I haven’t received a message about it, not a day when I haven’t talked about it with someone close to me,” Mr Babonneau told Le Monde.
On the dozens of letters that arrive every week, Mr Camus added: “We can’t ignore these people… We pass them on to Gisèle, and thank everyone on her behalf.”
