Queen Camilla’s son has revealed she is not part of the family WhatsApp group for one surprising reason.
Tom Parker-Bowles, Camilla’s eldest child with former Army officer Andrew Parker, says keeping in touch with his mum can be quite difficult. He says he often calls the Queen but receives no answer.
The 49-year-old food critic says he then switches on the TV and discovers she is jetting away somewhere with husband King Charles. And while both the King and Queen are in their seventies, Tom says his mum is “busier than ever”.
Speaking to Woman and Home magazine, Tom says his mother can have up to 30 engagements a day. He said: “She’s working a lot harder.
“She’s always worked quite hard [so] it’s still the case of, I ring my mother, she doesn’t answer, I look on the television [and think] ‘Ah! She’s in Jersey’.”
Tom shares teenagers Lola, 17, and Freddy, 14, with ex-wife Sara Buys. Woman and Home asked Tom if he – and sister Laura Lopes – keep in touch via a family WhatsApp.
He replied: “We do – my children, my sister, and my cousins – but my mum still uses an old-fashioned Nokia telephone, [so] she can’t. I think it’s for security.”
Tom, who has appeared as a judge on MasterChef, says his mother becoming Queen hasn’t had an impact on their family dynamic. He says family life has always come first for 77-year-old Camilla.
He has previously spoken about how his children adjusted to their grandmother’s relationship with the King. He also shared a sweet nickname the children had for the Monarch growing up.
Speaking on Alan Tichmarsh’s Love Your Weekend, he said “The children, of course, don’t really know any different. So ‘Uppa’, as they call the King, they’ve grown up with this man that they all love and think is wonderful.”
Food writer Tom has recently merged his royal connections and work by penning a book. Cooking and the Crown looks at some of the dishes royalty has enjoyed over the years – including his mother and stepfather.