Tom Parker Bowles’ mother, Queen Camilla, was out and about this week in an attempt to distract from the ongoing fiascos of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. But did Camilla send out Tom to distract as well? Possibly. The thing is, Tom is something of a professional foodie, a critic/food writer/cookbook author/food historian, so it’s more than possible that he’s just got his own career to this side and it has nothing to do with the Windsors. In any case, Tom was on a food podcast this week and he spoke about the idea that he would ever get a title (lmao) and whether he’s ever held the Crown Jewels.
Queen Camilla’s son has joked that Buckingham Palace would get “stormed” if he was made a prince. Tom Parker Bowles, 50, said that he would keep to his “original name” after he was asked about the possibility of gaining a title when his stepfather became King in 2023.
Speaking on the Good Food Podcast, Parker Bowles quipped: “I tell you, that would be the quickest way to revolution. I think we’re a fairly balanced and sober and sensible country on the whole. But if I suddenly became prince, I think that Buckingham Palace gates would be stormed.”
The food writer and restaurant critic added: “It would be appalling. I think that would put back the long and glorious cause of the monarchy in Britain by many years.”
Pressure continues to mount on Buckingham Palace to strip Prince Andrew of his title as a prince over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. He was stripped of his dukedom and honours earlier this month after it emerged that he lied about how long he had maintained a relationship with the late paedophile tycoon. While Parker Bowles was not addressing the recent furore, he joked that he would be “sticking” to his original name.
Speaking about his stepfather, King Charles, Parker Bowles said that he was a “fountain of knowledge” and has “forgotten more than I will ever know”.
Asked if he had ever been able to see or touch the Crown Jewels, Parker Bowles revealed that he managed to hold one of the treasures ahead of the King’s Coronation. He said: “They had some of the Crown Jewels, because the King and my mother had to practise carrying [them] … and it was just, I think it was the sceptre, or the diadem, I can’t remember. Anyway, just to hold it briefly was – you’re holding history, you’re holding 800 or 900 years of history, it’s incredible.”
The food writer also explained how his culinary knowledge had been fostered at home in Wiltshire, with his parents and younger sister, Laura Lopes.
“I had a very traditional – albeit very happy and privileged – upbringing. It was a classic comfortable English upbringing,” he said. Discussing the Queen’s cooking, he added: “She’s a great cook, a natural cook, and there weren’t many spices… it was very, very traditional. I grew up in Wiltshire in the ’70s and early ’80s. We’d have English food.”
Asked if his exposure to the Royal family had “changed his tastes”, the critic and author simply said: “Not really, no.”
Why would exposure to the Windsors change his taste? The Windsors in QEII’s era were eating farm-to-table, yes, but QEII liked her food very bland and spice-free, and that’s how everyone tended to eat. Charles is not an adventurous eater either. They’re all still eating bland, unseasoned food. As for the other stuff, while there was some commentary about how Tom and his sister Lara should “get titles” because their mother is queen consort, both Tom and Lara have shrugged all of that off consistently. I don’t believe it was ever a real conversation within royal circles. Tom is right, if there was a real conversation about the Parker Bowles children getting titles, the backlash would be immediate.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
