Queen Camilla’s son, who is a food writer in his own right and has two children with ex-wife Sara Buys, generally maintains a respectable distance from his mother’s royal responsibilities.
He’s previously chalked not spending Christmas Day with the King and Queen at their Sandringham Estate in Norfolk to “various reasons” including that “We are not the royal family”.
But this year, it looks like that could all be about to change.
It’s hardly surprising, after a difficult year Camilla has had – from the King’s cancer diagnosis to her own struggle with pneumonia – that she especially wants her nearest and dearest close at hand.
And it appears that Tom is obliging her request, telling The Telegraph that he is “set” on taking Lola, 17, and Freddie, 14, to the Norfolk estate, the traditional backdrop to royal festivities, as observed for years by Queen Elizabeth II.
“For the past 15 years it has been: I go back to my ex-wife’s house, sit in my tracksuit bottoms, go to the pub while the beef’s in, then try to get my children to watch The Wild Geese,” he said. “So this would be a bit different.”
He was tight-lipped on further details of the big day, insisting cluelessness over the other attendees.
“I genuinely know nothing about,” the King’s stepson said. “I know there’s turkey and sprouts and church. And I have to bring a suit and dinner jacket.”
While the 49-year-old often reunites with Camilla and her ex-husband Andrew Parker-Bowles later in December, this year his mother specifically asked for him to be present on the day itself – something Tom said he had resisted in the past.
“My mum said, ‘I’d love you to come, I haven’t had Christmas with you for a long time’. 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.”
Tom, who has recently published a book of royal recipes, Cooking and the Crown, packed with how-tos for everything from Camilla’s porridge to Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite curry, has previously described his mother’s new family as “incredibly nice and natural” but been quick to position himself outside of the firm.
He nonetheless appears on fairly intimate terms with the King – telling The Telegraph that Charles, alongside Jeremy Clarkson, deserved the title of “hero of [UK] farming”.
“All my life … he has been banging the drum and supporting farming,” he said. “There is no man who knows more about cheesemaking. If he wasn’t a king, he’d be a fantastic food writer.”
A source previously told the Express that this year’s Christmas dinner will be held in Sandringham’s ball room and will consist of a “buffet style roast dinner with all the trimmings”.
Tom’s sister Laura Lopes is also expected to attend with her daughter Eliza, 16, and twins Gus and Louis, 14.
