REBECCA DUTCH: Camilla's secret visit to a women's shelter shows she will not be intimidated by agreements on issues close to her heart

Eight years ago, a tearful Duchess of Cornwall promised me she would do everything in her power to help victims of domestic violence.

Looking at her mascara-smeared face and determined gaze, it was clear she meant it.

Now, Queen Camilla, her priorities haven't changed.

Her first three assignments this year all involved visits to shelters or projects related to the issue.

It is a clear signal of royal intent and proof, if ever needed, that we now have a quietly campaigning Queen, determined not to be intimidated by convention on the issues close to her heart.

Yesterday she secretly visited Refuge's Gaia center in south London, a specialist community center dedicated to ending gender-based violence and supporting survivors.

The charity's chair, Hetti Barkworth-Nanton CBE, accompanied her and, not coincidentally, was also at the same meeting in 2016, organized by another charity in this area, Safe Lives.

Hetti's best friend, Joanna Simpson, was murdered in 2010 by her estranged British Airways husband, Robert Brown, in their Berkshire home, while their two young children cowered in the nearby playroom.

She had suffered a sickening catalog of domestic violence and was beaten to death with a claw hammer a week before their divorce was to be finalized.

Brown later dumped Joanna's body in a pre-dug grave in Windsor Great Park, but was acquitted of murder after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He was sentenced to 26 years in prison.

The Daily Mail successfully campaigned to block his early release last year.

Hetti is not one to hand out compliments lightly, but her admiration for Queen Camilla's work in this area is always completely genuine.

Shortly after the royal family left the center in south London, she said to me: 'It's almost eight years since we had that session at Safe Lives and she was as kind and empathetic today as she was then.'

She told us again, “I'm determined to do whatever I can to help.” I replied, “Boy, did you do what you could!” That made her smile.

“She goes out of her way to make these kinds of visits and when she does, she makes a point of having intimate conversations with survivors, to better understand what they're going through, to give them a voice. Ultimately, she is determined to do what she can to break the stigma of domestic violence. I honestly don't think we can ask more of her.'

It's not something the Queen does for personal glory. I previously interviewed her exclusively for the Daily Mail on this subject. And her only rider? Let this be about the victims and survivors, not me.

'Absolute. Her ability to talk not about her, but about the people who need her help, impresses me every time,” says Hetti.

“For example, today she stood up and had numerous photos taken with some of our first responders and survivors. Those photos will never be seen in the public domain. They can't. But it's another example of her giving her time to help people working on the front lines and survivors get something special.

“When they announced she was going to be 'queen' instead of 'queen consort', my total reaction was 'this isn't an ego thing for her.' It's about her being able to do even more and have an even bigger voice – and I think she's showing that.

'She is amazing, honest and sincere and the survivors she met today were absolutely blown away by her. Anyone you speak to who has met her will say the same thing.

'And she took three slices of cake with her – one for her private secretary, one for her and one for the king before she left! She's absolutely brilliant and just one of us.'

Joanna's mother, Diana Parkes, who received a CBE in the New Year's Honors for her work in co-founding the Joanna Simpson Foundation with Hetti, which helps children suffering as a result of domestic violence and murder, also spoke to me from her home on the Isle of Mann.

“When Joanna was murdered, domestic violence wasn't really talked about and that's why the Queen was so brilliant,” she says.

'When it was announced that she would become Queen Consort, she promised to continue her work until she died. And she does it fantastically.

'After that first meeting with her at Safe Lives she invited me to a reception at Clarence House. She came to me [at that event], despite all these famous people around us, and said: “it's you who makes me want to do this”. A shiver still runs down my spine.

'Camilla said everyone knew domestic violence existed but no one talked about it and she was right. It is a classless, pervasive crime. With coercive control, people may not even realize they are a victim – or a perpetrator for that matter. They feel so voiceless and helpless. They don't realize that this is domestic violence and that it has to end.”

Ms Parkes says Camilla has been committed to removing the 'shroud of secrecy' surrounding the issue through her public engagements and regularly brings together agencies and charities working in this area.

She has created toiletry bags containing items such as soap and shampoo, which are distributed to victims of rape and sexual assault after they undergo sometimes inhumane forensic examinations to help them feel more human again.

'I'm a big fan of hers. She's absolutely inspiring in this, she really is. She didn't do this for herself, she used her position to put others in the spotlight. I just think she's beautiful, a lovely woman,” she adds.

As I revealed yesterday, the Queen will also star in a new documentary on the issue of domestic abuse on television later this year – another royal departure from the norm.

But her attitude is, as she has always been: 'well, if attention is drawn to the matter, then all well and good'.

When she first embarked on this journey in 2016, there were a few raised eyebrows and Camilla admitted to me that this was not the 'fluffy' subject that members of the Royal Family are normally associated with.

It has certainly been a journey of discovery.

During one of our many conversations about this topic, she admitted that the more she started talking openly about it, friends and staff confided in her about their own experiences.

“No one knows what happens behind a front door,” she said. 'It affects everyone. It does not matter who you are.'

In Britain, at least two women are murdered every week by current or former partners, and more than two million women report domestic violence every year, a figure that many experts say is just the tip of the iceberg.

Camilla's message about this is simple: 'Whoever you are, wherever you come from, there are organizations that can help you. Go get help. Talk to them, just stand up and talk about your experiences. They will help.'

For advice and support see

*Refuge: www.refuge.org.uk

*Safe lives: www.safelives.org.uk

*www.nhs.co.uk also has a special page for victims