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    1. Celebrity
    2. Royals

    Queen Camilla's Son Reveals a Surprisingly Down-to-Earth Tidbit About His Royal Mom

    Tom Parker Bowles shared some fun facts about his mother, The Queen.

    Kristin Contino's avatar
    By Kristin Contino
    Published 13 February 2025 In News

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    Queen Camilla wearing a white polka dot dress smiling and posing with her son Tom Parker Bowles who is wearing a nvay suit and white shirt
    (Image credit: Getty Images)
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    Tom Parker Bowles might be Queen Camilla's son and The King's stepson, but it turns out his childhood—while marked by a few scary incidents with the press—was actually quite normal. While speaking to the Sunday Times, he revealed some facts about his royal mother, including her regular-person traveling habits.

    “I haven’t flown with my mother for years, but when my sister and I were young it was always British Airways in economy,” he told the publication. Although his mom wasn't one to be seen in first class, Parker Bowles continued that The Queen "loves traveling."

    One particular trip to Portugal, however, ended up being a "nightmare," he revealed. "It was just me, my mother, my sister and various other family members and friends—my parents were divorced by then. We were staying in this beautiful old house, but it sat in a cloud and everything was damp…and the cook turned out to be a News of the World plant, so there were paparazzi in the garden."

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    The Cooking And The Crown author admitted that the situation was "funny now, looking back on it, but it wasn’t much fun at the time."

    Tom Parker Bowles sitting next to his mother The Queen laughing and smiling while wearing a blue suit

    Tom Parker Bowles is seen with Queen Camilla during the 2024 Queen's Reading Room Festival.

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    Tom Parker Bowles, Queen Camilla and King Charles wearing suits and dresses and grimacing while watching horses at Royal Ascot

    Parker Bowles called The King "the most hard-working man I’ve ever met."

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    Parker Bowles—who recently said stepdad King Charles could be "a fantastic food writer" if he wasn't on the throne—shared that the monarch wasn't exactly a fan of relaxing on vacation (or in general).

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    "My mother loves walking and I love walking, so we just wander off together," the food critic shared. "She hasn’t changed at all over the years: if you give her the sun and a book, she’s perfectly happy."

    However, he continued that "The King loves walking too, but he’s the most hard-working man I’ve ever met. I don’t think he’s the sort of person who can just flop onto a deck chair and disappear into a book."

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    Explore More
    Camilla Parker Bowles
    Kristin Contino
    Kristin Contino
    Senior Royal and Celebrity Editor

    Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

    Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

    Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.

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