While King Charles and Queen Camilla are expected to host Christmas at Sandringham in Norfolk this year, as is tradition, there’s one family member who has yet to secure an invitation to Sandringham House for the royal festivities.
Contrary to reports last year suggesting that Camilla invited her children, Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes, along with her grandchildren, for Christmas lunch, Tom recently clarified that this wasn’t the case.
Speaking to PEOPLE magazine, the 49-year-old food critic and author explained, “We are married in; we are not the royal family—I’ve never claimed that. I find everyone incredibly nice and friendly, and we’ve known them all for a long time. It feels natural.”
Tom, who shares daughter Lola, 17, and son Freddy, 14, with his ex-wife, Sara Buys, added, “That’s not to say my children and I are running around palaces. I have my own job, and the children have school. I haven’t been to Christmas there yet for various reasons.”
Although Tom and his sister, Laura, haven’t celebrated Christmas at Sandringham with King Charles and the wider royal family, Tom shared that Camilla does spend time with him, Laura, and her former husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, during the holidays.
“My mother and father are still great friends, and we usually get together on December 27, and sometimes my mother joins us,” he said.
Camilla married Charles in 2005 at Windsor Guildhall, with both of their children present. While Tom’s children are largely out of the spotlight, his son Freddy participated as a page of honor at the King and Queen’s coronation in 2023, alongside Laura’s twins, Gus and Louis.
Laura’s daughter, Eliza, was also a bridesmaid at Prince William and Kate’s wedding in 2011.
Reflecting on his relationship with the royal family, Tom said his children “adore” King Charles, describing him as a “wonderful step-grandfather.”
He also mentioned growing up with Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall and described Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie as “two of the nicest women you’d hope to meet.”
Tom has recently published a new book titled Cooking and the Crown: Royal Recipes from Queen Victoria to King Charles III.
