The son of Queen Camilla has spoken of the ‘hell of a two years’ endured by his mother and the King as a result of their significant health challenges.
Food critic Tom Parker Bowles, 49, said he planned to spend his first Christmas at Sandringham later this month as Camilla recovers from a bout of pneumonia and amid King Charles’s battle with an undisclosed form of cancer.
Describing his mother as a ‘resilient woman’, the Mail on Sunday writer suggested the Royal couple had experienced considerable difficulties, which had left him contemplating their ‘mortality’.
‘My mum said, “I’d love you to come, I haven’t had Christmas with you for a long time,”’ he said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.
‘It has been a hell of a two years for them. The older you get, the more conscious you become of mortality, especially with illnesses and the rest of it.’
Mr Parker Bowles added that his mother hated being kept away from her duties as Queen. He has also previously revealed that the King’s treatment was ‘going well’.
‘She [Camilla] went back to work before she should have done, but she’s fine,’ he said. ‘She hates that she missed Remembrance Sunday. That’s a big day for her. She just gets on with it.’
Food critic Tom Parker Bowles, 49, pictured, said he planned to spend his first Christmas at Sandringham later this month as Camilla recovers from a bout of pneumonia and amid King Charles’s battle with cancer
Describing his mother as a ‘resilient woman’, the Mail on Sunday writer suggested the Royal couple, pictured, had experienced considerable difficulties
The interview, to promote his new book of Royal recipes, comes as the King and Queen today released their annual Christmas card
He also referred to his father, Andrew Parker Bowles, who is now said to be dating former The Weakest Link host Anne Robinson.
Despite Ms Robinson confirming their romance, Mr Parker Bowles said: ‘He says they’re just friends, and I’ll take his word for it. But there’s life in the old dog yet.’
The interview, to promote his new book of Royal recipes, comes as the King and Queen today released their annual Christmas card.
It shows the Royal couple standing in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in April in an image taken to celebrate the first anniversary of the Coronation.
Cooking And The Crown: Royal Recipes from Queen Victoria to King Charles III’ by Tom Parker Bowles is published by Aster, £30.
