Queen Camilla’s ex-husband Andrew Parker-Bowles is mourning the sad death of his close friend Jonathan Irwin, who passed away on Sunday aged 82.
Jonathan was described as ‘the best company in the world’, according to the MailOnline’s Richard Eden who recalled a conversation he had with Andrew following his loss.
“Jonathan was charming, he was amusing – the best company in the world. And, if he believed in a cause, it wasn’t talk, it was action. He was an action man. A proper man.”
Andrew went on to tell Richard all the fantastic things about his friend which included a heartfelt letter during Andrew’s time as Commanding Officer of the Household Cavalry Regiment.
Four of his men and seven horses were killed by an IRA bomb and Johnathan sent a special note to his friend and as managing director of Goffs, Ireland’s bloodstock auctioneers, he offered to replace the horses that were killed.
“It was a remarkable offer. I was very touched,” Andrew explained.
Brigadier Andrew and Queen Camilla finalised their divorce in 1995 and share two children Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes.
Camilla went on to marry then-Prince Charles in Windsor in 2005. She became Queen following Charles’ accession to the throne in September 2022.
Following his split from Camilla, Andrew married his longtime partner, Rosemary Pitman, in 1996 but sadly she passed away in 2010 from cancer.
The former army officer has several connections to the royal family – his parents were friends of the late Queen Mother and he served as a page at the late Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953.
Andrew used to play on Charles’ polo team, and he previously dated Princess Anne in the years before his engagement to Camilla.
