Queen Camilla’s son has described King Charles as a “big, tough man” amid his current cancer treatment, but admitted he is trying to “stay out of” the feud between Prince Harry and Prince William.
Tom Parker Bowles, 49, who lives in west London, spoke glowingly of his stepfather, who was diagnosed with cancer in February.
Talking with British VogueThe food writer, who lost his late girlfriend Alice Procope to cancer in 2021, explained how King Charles is receiving the “best treatment” possible.
He said: “Cancer is a real piece of shit. The King is getting the best treatment. He’s a big, tough man and we have to get on with it.”
However, the father of two acknowledged that it is a “worry” to see someone undergo cancer treatment.
Pictured: Tom Parker Bowles with his stepfather King Charles and mother Queen Camilla at Royal Ascot in June 2023
As such, the King’s son, whose new book Cooking & The Crown is published tomorrow, says he has been in regular contact with the Prince and Princess of Wales after the mother-of-three announced her own cancer diagnosis in March.
Referring to the Prince and Princess of Wales, Tom added: “I absolutely adore them both.”
What’s more, the Queen’s son said he is staying “out of” the dispute between Prince William and Prince Harry.
He added: “You just want everyone to be happy.”
In his book Spare, Prince Harry accused William of physically attacking him during an argument over Meghan and claimed his brother and father confronted him after Prince Philip’s funeral “looking for a fight.”
Late last month, the feuding brothers attended the funeral of their uncle Lord Fellowes in Norfolk.
Despite hopes for a thaw in relations, aides said the warring brothers appeared to “keep their distance”, did not speak to each other and “sat apart at the back of St Mary’s Church after arriving very discreetly”.
Lord Fellowes, who died last month, was married to Lady Jane Spencer, sister of Harry and William’s mother Diana, and was the late Queen’s private secretary.
Tom Parker Bowles (pictured March 2024) gushed about his stepfather in an interview with British Vogue.
Pictured: Tom Parker Bowles with his half-brothers Prince William and Prince Harry on Charles and Camilla’s wedding day in 2005.
Questions have been raised over the past 12 months about whether Harry would update the paperback edition with a new chapter, in light of the King’s cancer diagnosis and ongoing family tensions.
But the fact that he has decided not to add anything to the revelations could be seen by some as an attempt to try to smooth over family conflicts.
The last time the couple were together was for the king’s coronation, over a year ago. However, they sat separately and were not photographed together. Before that, they were last photographed together at the late queen’s funeral in 2022.
In March 2021, Tom Parker Bowles lost his girlfriend Alice Procope to cancer.
A source close to the family told the Daily Mail’s Eden Confidential that, partly due to Covid, the mother-of-three’s cancer diagnosis did not come until last August, “when it was already too late”.
Camilla’s son, food writer Tom Parker Bowles, had been dating former journalist Alice Procope (left, with Daily Telegraph diarist Loise Hannah) for almost two years.
The wedding of Tom Parker Bowles and his wife, fashion writer Sara Buys, in 2005. The couple separated in 2018.
At the time, a source said Tom was devastated following the death of his girlfriend of two years.
His friend said: “Tom had been incredibly happy with Alice and is devastated that life can be so cruel.”
At school and college, Tom was the subject of many snide comments about his parents, particularly Camilla’s long-running affair with Charles and its effect on Diana.
In 2018, he moved out of the Shepherd’s Bush home he shared with his wife, fashion writer Sara Buys, and their two children after 12 years of marriage.
Tom, whose father Andrew Parker Bowles is Camilla’s first husband, previously said he has “always adored” King Charles.
She previously said: ‘The only thing you care about with your parents is that they are happy and my mother is exceptionally happy at the moment. I have always adored my stepfather; he has always been a kind, good, lovely man.