Queen Camilla’s son fondly recounted becoming a “terrified but awestruck” puppy when he met the late Queen alongside his sister.
Tom Parker Bowles spoke of the two times he met Queen Elizabeth II in an interview about his new book Cooking With the Crown.
He told the Independent he’d met the Queen first when he was eight: “I was so scared that I curtsied rather than bowed,” but he then met her again when when Camilla and Charles got married in a civil ceremony in Windor in 2005.
He explained: “My sister and I had snuck out for a fag or something and got lost and suddenly heard this voice saying, ‘Are you okay?'”, which turned out to be from the Queen.
“Obviously she was magnetic and lovely and she was the Queen, the most famous person in the world. We just followed like two rather terrified but awestruck puppies as she went down the hall with the dogs,” he added.
Elizabeth II didn’t attend the wedding ceremony, with reports at the time claiming this was due to the fact that she was Supreme Governor of the Church of England which discourages divorce.
An aide had said: “The civil nature of the service is the issue. She did not feel it was appropriate for her to attend.”
However, the Queen did attend a blessing in St. George’s Chapel and gave a moving speech in support of the marriage at a reception she hosted at Windsor, which is where Mr Parker Bowles recounted the meeting.
Tom who is a food critic had previously spoken about the Queen in an interview on BBC breakfast when he described her as “not a great eater”.
He explained: “[She] was just as happy with a salmon fishcake, a mild curry or scrambled eggs on toast.”