Hillary Clinton admits she wanted to 'curl up' after election loss

Hillary Clinton has opened up about her election defeat to Donald Trump and admitted she wanted to "curl up".

She told a children's charity in Washington that the last seven days have not been easy. 

"There have been a few times this past week when all I wanted to do was just to curl up with a good book or our dogs and never leave the house again," the Democrat said.

In a speech at the annual gala of the Children's Defence Fund, she also addressed the difficulty of the loss for her supporters.

She urged them to persevere and encouraged her backers to "never, ever give up". 

"I know this isn't easy," Mrs Clinton told the audience.

"I know that over the past week a lot of people have asked themselves whether America is the country we thought it was.

"But please listen to me when I say this: America is worth it.

"It's up to each and every one of us to keep working to make America better and stronger and fairer.

"We need you. America needs your energy."

It was Mrs Clinton's first public appearance since her emotional concession speech in New York last Wednesday.

She has blamed her defeat on the FBI's decision to re-examine her use of a private email server during her time as US Secretary of State.

Mrs Clinton led in almost every poll before America voted Donald Trump as president.