Overview
- At a Buckingham Palace garden party on Tuesday, Queen Camilla told campaigner Hetti Barkworth-Nanton she agreed with keeping Robert Brown jailed, citing the Parole Board’s decision summary, according to Barkworth-Nanton.
- The Parole Board has refused Brown’s release, blocking the automatic freedom he would have received after serving half of a 26-year term that had been scheduled for November 2023.
- Brown, a former British Airways pilot, killed his estranged wife Joanna Simpson in 2010 at their home in Ascot, Berkshire, a crime that left their children without their mother.
- The Queen met Simpson’s mother, Diana Parkes, at the palace event, building on ties that date to 2016 and her ongoing support for groups such as Refuge and the Joanna Simpson Foundation.
- Royal backing can amplify survivor-led campaigns and keep public attention on how parole decisions weigh risk and public safety in domestic abuse cases.