As she resumed her royal duties following the Easter break on Tuesday, Queen Camilla hosted a group of young changemakers at Buckingham Palace.

The 76-year-old Duchess continues her efforts to raise awareness about domestic abuse, supporting a nationwide initiative during her latest engagement for her patronage, SafeLives. Her Majesty welcomed four young advocates, aged 15 to 20, from the charity to the music room at the palace.

During the meeting, she suggested the idea of hosting “pop-up shops” in schools to assist peers with significant life issues.

One of the changemakers, Maya, 20, shared with Camilla that they had recently taken their campaign to Parliament and met with the Education Secretary to advocate for changes to national academic guidance.

Maya told Her Majesty: “Children need to feel less alone and feel stronger. Part of our work is about reach and that’s why we took our campaign to Parliament. We met Gillian Keegan and discussed ways they are trying to change the curriculum, it’s absolutely vital we can make changes.”

The Queen responded: “You’re virtually the same age as my granddaughters and I was talking to one the other day and I was suggesting taking sort of pop-up shops into these schools.

“You know, say two or three change makers, it would be such a good idea because then they could all come and ask questions. To get around [all these] schools would be a brilliant idea.”

Camilla is the grandmother of two children from Tom Parker Bowles, Lola, aged 16, and Frederick, aged 13, as well as three children from her daughter Laura Lopes, Eliza, aged 16, and twins Gus and Louis, aged 14.

Lybah, aged 17, then informed the Queen about the Changemakers’ initiative to educate young people about recognizing signs that their friends may be experiencing domestic violence or toxic relationships.

She said: “It can be a lot of intuition of being a friend or a best friend, but we have to give young people the tools to recognise certain signs that their friend could be suffering.”

Camilla replied: “Your generation, and every generation, I think it’s being able to spot when somebody is down. So, I think it’s especially difficult when you’re much younger because people don’t really want to admit – do they? I have found this in talking to older people as well, by talking about their experiences, when they talk about it, it becomes easier.”

The Queen added: “It’s a brilliant project what you are doing and it’s certainly something you could talk about in schools. It’s getting it into the system and when you get it into the classes more people can get involved.”

SafeLives is dedicated to combatting domestic abuse, and in 2020, Camilla became the organization’s patron, which acknowledges children and young people as victims in their own regard.

The Changemakers’ goal to eradicate domestic abuse has led them to engage in various initiatives. These include addressing harmful and toxic behaviors in early relationships, researching the root causes of abusive behaviors among young people, influencing the national Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum, and reshaping young people’s interactions with law enforcement.

Ellen Miller, the SafeLives chief executive who joined the meeting, said: “Our research shows that children and young people are too often being let down.

“They want more from their relationships and sex education classes, and they are being continually missed by professionals and misunderstood by the adults around them. They rarely see themselves reflected in the domestic abuse services that exist.

“I know after meeting the Changemakers, Her Majesty felt energised and renewed in her commitment to stopping abuse before it starts, before it ruins lives.”