Topics: Food and Drink, Queen Camilla, Royal Family, UK News, Alcohol, Parenting, Podcasts
Queen Camilla’s son Tom Parker-Bowles has lifted the lid on his mother’s drinking, eating, and smoking habits - and what he said may surprise you.
The 50-year-old British food writer is the Queen Consort’s only son, and despite being the offspring of a royal, said he had to ‘work like everyone’ else to get where he wanted in life and ‘never had a trust fund’ from his parents.
Tom’s father is Andrew Parker Bowles, who Camilla divorced in 1995, and the former couple also share a daughter, Laura Lopes, 47.
He opened up on his life as a writer and previous roles in PR, as well as his relationship with his mother, in a new episode of Kate Thornton’s ‘White Wine Question Time’ podcast.
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For those who aren’t familiar, there’s a rather bizarre but popular rumour that the wife of King Charles III enjoys her gin and cigarettes.
But Tom was keen to quickly shut this down, and instead insisted that he’s ‘never seen her tipsy’ and she doesn’t even ‘drink gin.’
He started out by discussing what kind of food she likes, and told host Kate: “If I did cook for her, it would probably be something like a piece of fish, she doesn't really eat a lot of meat.”
Tom then added: “And contrary to popular sort of stereotype, I've never in my whole life seen her even tipsy.”
Kate chimed in with: “You’re right, that kind of myth persists, doesn't it? That she likes to knock back a G and T with a cigarette?”
To which the food writer doubled down with: “I’ve never seen her tipsy in my life. Never. She doesn't drink gin, which is this whole thing, and she gave up fags 20 years ago. 30 years ago maybe.”
He added that Camilla ‘likes red wine’ but is a ‘very moderate and sensible drinker.’
Emphasising his point, he said: “You know, I mean literally a glass and a half.”
Back to the topic of what his mum cooks, he clarified her best meals are fish and scrambled eggs.
Tom revealed that the royal likes ‘quite plain’ food and around ‘90 percent’ of the dishes in his new cookbook probably wouldn’t be served to her as she doesn’t like ‘spice or garlic.’
He sweetly added that despite his mother’s title changing, their relationship hasn’t in the slightest - and she even enjoys a gossip.
Tom explained: “We’re there eating, gossiping, talking - she’s just the same.”
This also isn’t the first time that the food expert has spoken out about his mother’s eating and drinking habits.
In an interview with The Times in October last year, he opened up on the rumour again.
He said: “Oh, you know she has that reputation of drinking gin and smoking? Never drunk a glass of gin in her life. Doesn’t smoke. My mother hardly drinks. Never seen her so much as tipsy.”
So, that’s the record well and truly set straight!
