Queen Camilla has spoken for the first time about how she was “so angry” when she was physically attacked on a train as a teenager.

Camilla described the incident in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today show, during which she also praised the courage of racing commentator John Hunt and his daughter Amy, whose family were murdered in their home.

She said she had “kind of forgotten” the experience, but the memory had been hiding for a long time. “Someone I didn’t know…I was reading my book, and you know, this boy, dude, attacked me and I fought back,” she told the program.

“And I remember getting off the train and my mother looked at me and said, ‘Why does your hair stand up?’ and “Why is the button missing on your coat?” “But I remember the anger, and I was so furious about it, and it was sort of hidden for many years.

“And I think, you know, when the whole subject of domestic violence comes up and all of a sudden you hear a story like John and Amy’s, it’s something that’s very close to my heart.”

Louise Hunt, 25, her sister Hannah Hunt, 28, and their mother, Carol Hunt, 61, were killed by Kyle Clifford, 27 – Louise’s ex-partner – in a quiet cul-de-sac in Bushey, Hertfordshire, on July 9 last year.

In the interview on the show, fronted by former Prime Minister Theresa May, Camilla said: “I would just like to say that wherever your family is now, they would be so proud of you both. And they must be smiling at you from above and thinking, my God, what a wonderful, wonderful father, husband, sister.”

Interviewed by Emma Barnett, Hunt said he and his daughter “have come such a long way since July 9, 2024, the day the girls were murdered” and wanted to shine a light on the issue of domestic violence and violence against women and girls.

Hunt said that, more than a year later, “it’s still very difficult, minute by minute. You have to try to find the strength in our position to arm yourself with as many tools as possible that can help you get through the next hour, get you through the next day. We were fortunate to have enough brain power to navigate our way through this quagmire and we found solutions that got us this far.

“I’m amazed that we’re doing this well at this point. There’s still a lot of work to do.”

With the support of Amy, his fiancé and Hannah’s boyfriend, he said: “You gain wisdom and confidence, because this is not the future you wanted, but there is still a little fragment of the future that exists for you.”

Amy, 32, said what had become clear was that “domestic abuse and violence spans across classes, ages and locations”. She added: “There is a large part of us that is still in disbelief in shock. Perhaps we will be in this state for the rest of our lives given the magnitude of our loss.”

Although they missed “every minute of the day,” they were sustained by the “care, joy, positivity and humor” that her sisters and mothers brought into the world.

Misogyny and radicalization of young men online is a huge problem, she said, which “remains largely unchecked”, with tech companies allowing this phenomenon “to run rampant” on social media. His father said that “this very dark world opening up to me in the most stark way possible was shocking. It was something I had to navigate very quickly and I had to educate myself as well.”

His wife and daughters were murdered by Clifford after Louise ended their relationship. The family had struggled to accommodate Clifford during their 18-month relationship, he said. “When things work out so disastrously against you…and I’m still dealing with this now…it’s such a demanding thing to try to figure out how the hell we got to this point.”

The Queen praised their courage in speaking out “in these very difficult circumstances”. Talking could be “cathartic,” she said. “The more you talk about it, the more you can try to rid yourself of these terrible demons and these terrible memories of what happened to you.”

Of her own work highlighting domestic violence, she said “the majority of people don’t want to know. It’s been a taboo subject for so long.”

She added: “I thought if I had a little soap box to stand on, I would like to stand on it.” Some perpetrators may have suffered abuse themselves, she said. “If you can get them early enough and teach them respect for women, I think it’s very important to get into schools.”

Lady May said it was “sad to see” that a young boy going online, for example for health or fitness reasons, “didn’t need many clicks before being directed to really dark and dangerous content” and that algorithms ensured “he was starting to live in an echo chamber”. She added: “You can legislate as much as you want, but ultimately it’s about attitudes and mindsets. »

A fundraising gala was held this month to launch the Hunt Family Fund, established in memory of Carol, Louise and Hannah to raise money for charities and causes that help and inspire young women.