Tom Parker Bowles reveals surprising truth about spending Christmas with the royal family
The King and Queen are likely to host the royals for Christmas in Norfolk this year, as is tradition, but there's one family member who's yet to receive a coveted invitation to Sandringham House for dinner.
While it was widely reported last year that Camilla had invited her two children – Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes – as well as her grandchildren to have Christmas lunch, Tom has confirmed that wasn't the case.
The food critic and author, 49, told PEOPLE magazine: "We are married in, we are not the royal family – I've never for one second said that. I find everyone incredibly nice and friendly and we've known them all for a long time. It does seem natural."
Tom, who shares daughter Lola, 17, and son Freddy, 14, with his ex-wife, Sara Buys, added: "That's not to say myself and the children spend running around palaces. I have my own job and the children have school. I haven't been to Christmas yet for various reasons."
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Although Tom and his sister, Laura, haven't yet pulled Christmas crackers with their stepfather, King Charles, and stepbrother, Prince William, he reveals that Camilla spends time with them and her ex-husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, during the festive period.
"My mother and father are still great friends, and we will go down on December 27 and my mother will sometimes come," Tom said.
Camilla married the then Prince Charles in 2005 at Windsor Guildhall, with their respective children present at the ceremony.
While Tom's children are growing up out of the spotlight, his son Freddy had a starring role as pages of honour at the King and Queen's coronation in 2023 – alongside Laura's twin sisters, Gus and Louis. And Laura's daughter Eliza was chosen to be a bridesmaid at Prince William and Kate's wedding in 2011.
Speaking about his stepfather the King, Tom said his children "adore" Charles and described him as a "wonderful step-grandfather".
And referring to the wider royal family, he revealed how he'd "grown up" with Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, and referred to sisters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie as "two of the nicest women you'd hope to meet".
The author has just released his latest book, Cooking and the Crown: Royal Recipes from Queen Victoria to King Charles III.
