Queen Camilla supports the Parole Board’s ruling to keep Robert Brown imprisoned, according to a domestic abuse campaigner who spoke to Her Majesty at a Buckingham Palace garden party today.
Brown, a former British Airways pilot, killed his estranged wife, Joanna Simpson, in 2010.
He was due to be freed in November 2023 after serving half of his 26-year jail sentence for manslaughter, but his release was blocked by the Parole Board.
Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, a close friend of the late Ms Simpson, attended today’s Buckingham Palace garden party, where she spoke to the Queen, a prominent and longstanding campaigner against domestic violence and sexual abuse.
Queen Camilla | Source: GETTY
The Queen’s commitment to campaigning against domestic violence began after she met Ms Simpson’s mother, Diana Parkes, in 2016.
Ms Barkworth-Nanton, who serves on the board of Refuge and works alongside Ms Parkes, told the Telegraph: “I was talking to her [Queen Camilla] about the decision by the Parole Board.
“She thinks it is absolutely the right decision, she’s delighted, particularly having read the decision summary. She’s very supportive and always has been.”
Ms Barkworth-Nanton recounted how the campaign took shape: “I’ve met the Queen on a number of occasions but I met her at an event at the Palace in 2022.
Hetti Barkworth-Nanton | Source: PA
“That was where I met Carrie Johnson and Carrie said, ‘Oh you must go and speak to the Queen.’
“So we were talking to Her Majesty about how terrible it was that he was going to be automatically released the following year. Everyone was very shocked and we knew we couldn’t do anything about it.”
She noted that discussions with Boris Johnson’s wife, herself a victim of John Worboys, a British convicted serial sex offender, helped develop their strategy, bringing the effort “full circle.”
The Queen also reconnected with BBC racing commentator John Hunt at Tuesday’s gathering, alongside his surviving daughter Amy, whose family was killed in a crossbow and knife attack last July.
Robert Brown | Source: PA
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Diana Parkes | Source: PA
“Lovely to get you here,” she told Mr Hunt. “They let you escape from the races!”
Her Majesty had previously hosted Mr Hunt and Amy at Clarence House late last year, together with former Prime Minister Baroness Theresa May, as part of the United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence initiative.
That conversation was broadcast on New Year’s Eve during a special edition of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
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