In an emotional and wide-ranging conversation broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on December 31, 2025, Queen Camilla paid tribute to BBC racing commentator John Hunt and his daughter Amy Hunt, lauding their strength and resilience in the aftermath of an unimaginable tragedy. The discussion, recorded in the Garden Room at Clarence House, came nearly 18 months after the shocking triple murder of John Hunt’s wife, Carol, and their daughters, Louise and Hannah, in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
The Hunt family’s ordeal began on July 9, 2024, when Louise’s ex-partner, Kyle Clifford, entered their quiet cul-de-sac and killed Carol Hunt, 61, Louise Hunt, 25, and Hannah Hunt, 28, in a brutal attack involving a crossbow. Clifford was apprehended and later pleaded guilty to the murders. In March 2025, he was sentenced to three whole-life orders, ensuring he will never be released, according to BBC News and other national outlets.
During the broadcast, Queen Camilla addressed John and Amy Hunt directly, her words resonating with empathy and admiration. “I’d just like to say, wherever your family is now, they’d be so proud of you both,” she said. “And they must be from above smiling down on you and thinking, my goodness me, what a wonderful, wonderful father, husband, sister. They’d just be so proud of you both.” The Queen’s praise was heartfelt, acknowledging not only the family’s suffering but also their determination to honor the memory of their loved ones.
The conversation was part of a special edition of the Today programme, guest edited by former Prime Minister Baroness Theresa May. The focus was on violence against women, a subject that has gained increasing attention in the UK and beyond. Baroness May, who as Home Secretary introduced the offence of coercive and controlling behavior and later championed the Domestic Violence Bill, brought together the Hunt family and Queen Camilla for a frank discussion on grief, resilience, and the importance of education in combating abuse.
In a poignant moment, Queen Camilla publicly shared for the first time her own experience of an indecent assault as a teenager—a story previously reported in Valentine Low’s book Power and the Palace earlier in 2025. Recounting the incident, she said, “Somebody I didn’t know. I was reading my book, and you know, this boy, man, attacked me, and I did fight back. And I remember getting off the train and my mother looking at me and saying: ‘Why is your hair standing on end?’ and: ‘Why is button missing from your coat?’”
According to the book, the then-teenage Camilla Shand was traveling to Paddington Station when she was attacked by a man who touched her inappropriately. She responded by hitting him with the heel of her shoe and reported the incident to station staff, resulting in the man’s arrest. Reflecting on the event, the Queen told the BBC, “I was so furious about it and… when the subject about domestic abuse came up, and suddenly you hear a story like John and Amy’s, it’s something that I feel very strongly about.”
Amy Hunt thanked the Queen for her candor, saying, “Thank you for sharing that, Your Majesty. It takes a lot to share these things because every woman has a story.” The exchange underscored the universality of such experiences and the power of sharing them to foster understanding and solidarity.
John Hunt, who has become a figure of quiet resilience in the public eye, spoke openly about the ongoing challenges of grief. “It remains really difficult on a minute-by-minute basis,” he told the BBC. “You have to try and find the strength in our position to arm yourself with as many tools as possible that are going to help you get through that next hour.” He credited Amy with being his “best counsel from the word go,” adding, “I used to say ‘I couldn’t do it without you’, but now I say ‘I can do it with you’.”
The Hunt family’s determination to create a positive legacy out of tragedy was evident in their establishment of The Hunt Family Fund, launched at a fundraising gala earlier in December 2025. The fund supports charities and projects that inspire young women and address domestic violence—causes close to the hearts of Carol, Louise, and Hannah. Amy Hunt highlighted that the fund would also support animal charities, a particular passion of Louise’s.
Education emerged as a central theme in the conversation, with all participants agreeing on its critical role in preventing abuse and changing attitudes. The Queen emphasized the importance of reaching young men early: “If you can get them early enough and teach them respect for women, I think that’s so important to get into schools… and the more I look at it, it is the most important thing we can do now.”
Amy Hunt voiced concern about the unchecked radicalization of young men online, referencing figures like Andrew Tate, who has gained notoriety for misogynistic content. “Unfortunately, it’s something that largely goes unchecked,” she said. “It’s somewhat allowed to run rampant.” John Hunt added that, despite being surrounded by positive male role models throughout his life, he was shocked by the “very dark world” that emerged through the tragedy, forcing him to educate himself quickly about the dangers of online influence.
Baroness May echoed these concerns, pointing out that while laws are crucial, education and positive role models are essential to counteract the negative influences young people encounter online. “What people are able to see online is so important—because the law isn’t going to stop somebody who has just been so inculcated with that sense of anger and violence that they want to go out and do something like this,” she said. “But we can try to stop that by... the education that they receive, showing them those positive male role models, so they are less influenced by the negatives they see.”
Queen Camilla’s advocacy in this area is longstanding. She is patron of the domestic abuse charity SafeLives and has worked with organizations such as Refuge. Hettie Barkworth-Nanton, chair of Refuge, praised the Queen’s willingness to speak out: “The more the Queen is prepared to share her own experience, not in a way that is ‘poor me’, but in a way that helps people recognize that so many are affected by this, the better... she is helping give survivors a voice.”
For John and Amy Hunt, the journey through grief remains ongoing, but their efforts to channel pain into purpose have offered a glimmer of hope. As John Hunt described earlier in 2025, he still speaks daily to his late wife and daughters and is “finding some light again.” Amy, reflecting on the lives of her mother and sisters, said, “I think it’s really important to remember they had a sad death but they did not have a sad life… their life was full of so much love and joy and happiness and fun.”
The conversation between Queen Camilla, the Hunt family, and Baroness May not only honored the memory of Carol, Louise, and Hannah Hunt but also shone a light on the urgent need for societal change, education, and compassion in the fight against violence and abuse. Their words, broadcast to the nation, serve as a reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the collective responsibility to protect and uplift one another.
