We’re used to seeing members of the royal family surrounded by highly-trained security personnel, but none of them have ever been assigned an all-female protection team. Until now.

Camilla Parker-Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall, was guarded by eight women on a trip to the Middle East last week and the picture of four of them on duty is a sight of badassery to behold:

In the week that the world saw Hillary Clinton lose out to Donald Trump, one of the couple’s objectives during the tour was the promotion of women in leadership.

Camilla, 69, commented on the progression the region has made in women's rights since her first visit nine years ago. “I have seen a huge change since then, especially here and in the UAE, you can see how they have really progressed,” she said, speaking in Bahrain. 

Camilla pressed the issue of equal rights during a visit to a women’s refuge, asking if many convictions for domestic abuse took place, and she also called for the speedy introduction of a family court to deal with crimes of domestic violence.

Citing statistics that show two women a week in Britain are killed as a result of domestic attacks, Camilla asked if the women of Bahrain’s stories are highlighted in the media.

"These women, victims of domestic abuse, are they able to tell their story so it can be published in the media because the more people that read about it, the more others come out of the shadows and talk about it themselves?" she asked.

Huda Ebrahim Al Mahmood, the director of the Dar Al Amam Women's Refuge, said that the issue is “highly sensitive” in the tiny Arab nation, but women are now being encouraged to tell their stories anonymously.