Queen Camilla’s son Tom Parker Bowles is giving royal fans some insight into his humble upbringing.
“I haven’t flown with my mother for years, but when my sister and I were young it was always British Airways in economy,” Bowles, 50, said in an interview with The Sunday Times published on Sunday, February 9. “I love BA staff, they’re the best in the world, and I love Terminal 5. But the BA product will never catch up with Singapore, Qatar and Emirates.”
Parker Bowles added that his mother “loves traveling” though she doesn’t get to do it as much as she once did as she is mostly “based in the UK nowadays.”
The family spent a lot of time on ski holidays in the winter, he also said, though Queen Camilla “hated skiing, though, so she’d send us up the mountain with a guide while she sat and read her book.” They often traveled to Italy with his grandparents, where Parker Bowles developed a fondness for older-style hotels.
“Great hotels are an art form. I hate those hotels where they charge you for internet and water and it’s impossible to turn off the lights,” he shared.
As for travel activities, Parker Bowles added that his mother “loves walking and I love walking, so we just wander off together.”
“She hasn’t changed at all over the years: if you give her the sun and a book, she’s perfectly happy,” he explained. “The King loves walking too, but he’s the most hard-working man I’ve ever met. I don’t think he’s the sort of person who can just flop onto a deck chair and disappear into a book.”
Queen Camilla wasn’t terribly interested in ascending the throne, author Tom Quinn wrote in his new book, Yes Ma’am: the Secret Life of Royal Servants, which was published Thursday, February 6.
Related: Tom Parker Bowles Reveals His Kids’ Sweet Nickname for King Charles III
Queen Camilla’s son, Tom Parker Bowles, revealed the sweet nickname his children have for their step-grandfather, King Charles III. Parker Bowles, 49, appeared on the Sunday, October 13, episode of Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, where he revealed the affectionate name his two kids — daughter Lola, 17, and son Freddy, 14 — have […]
“One member of staff told me that at one point, Camilla hated the idea of being queen and would regularly say to Charles, ‘Can’t we get away from all this protocol? It’s all bollocks,” he explained.
“Charles, who hates swearing, would demurely reply, ‘You’re doing it [becoming queen] for me, darling,” Quinn added in the book.
Quinn also added that both the King and his son Prince William are “prone to tantrums” if protocol isn’t carried out the way they prefer. “They both get irritated very quickly,” a former member of the royal staff told the author. “They are very picky. It comes naturally to them.”
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