Queen Camilla’s son Tom Parker Bowles defends ‘right’ to protest ahead of coronation

Tom Parker Bowles, Queen Consort Camilla’s son, has addressed protests that will reportedly take place on King Charles III’s coronation next month. In a new interview, the food critic also hit back at claims Camilla played an “end game” to become Queen.

On Thursday 20 April, the 48-year-old British food writer appeared on The News Agents podcast where he spoke about anti-monarchy demonstrators’ plans to disrupt the King’s coronation on Saturday 6 May in London. “Everyone has a right to think what they want,” he told podcast hosts Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel. “You know, we live in a, thankfully, a free country.”

Republic is an activist group that calls to “see the monarchy abolished and the King replaced with an elected, democratic head of state.” The group says its supporters will march along The Mall on 6 May, which the King will process down from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. The demonstrators have been known to carry yellow protest signs emblazoned with the words, “Not My King.”

When asked whether he was worried that anti-monarchy demonstrators would “get in the way” of the King and his mother’s coronation, Parker Bowles backed their right to protest. “If people want to protest, that’s their right to do so, I think,” he added. “If people protest, people protest. You’re allowed to protest, we’re all allowed to have different views. I think that makes for an interesting and civilised country.”

Republic is set to stage the largest protest action in its history by lining the coronation procession route and gathering in Trafalgar Square. From there, they will march down the procession route towards Westminster Abbey – the site of the coronations of England and Britain’s monarchs since 1066.

Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, has said that more than 1,350 people have pledged to take part in the “peaceful” demonstration. Smith has also branded the crowning of Charles and the Queen Consort a “pointless piece of theatre” which will cost tens of millions of pounds and be a “slap in the face” for people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

Protesters have already gathered at public appearances attended by the royal family in the lead up to the coronation. Earlier this month, demonstrators heckled the Prince of Wales outside Westminster Abbey at a service celebrating the Commonwealth. In a viral video posted to TikTok, Prince William and Princess Kate were seen exiting a car, as a member of the protest was heard shouting at William over a megaphone: “You’re never going to be our king!”

“Down with the monarchy, William!” they added.

Elsewhere in the podcast, Tom Parker Bowles revealed whether he finds it weird to think of his mother as “the Queen”, to which he replied: “Not really because she’s still our mother. I say ‘our’ but not the royal ‘we’, speaking for my sister and me. She’s our mother.”

The cookbook author also denied claims that Camilla played an “end game” to become Queen, saying she “just married the person she loved”.

“I think change happens but I don’t care what anyone says – this wasn’t any sort of end game,” he said. “She married the person she loved and this is what happened.”

Tom Parker Bowles is the eldest child of Camilla Parker Bowles and Andrew Parker Bowles, who were married from 1973 to 1995. They also share daughter Laura Rose Lopes (née Parker Bowles).

His comments come after the Duke of Sussex labelled his step-mother as the “villain” in his highly-publicised memoir, Spare, which was released last January. In the tell-all memoir, Prince Harry claimed that the Queen Consort leaked stories about the royal family to the media to bolster her image. “I have complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar,” he wrote.

However, sources close to the Queen Consort have said that Camilla was “hurt” to be branded as the “villain” by Harry.

The Duke of Sussex has confirmed his attendance at King Charles and Queen Camilla’s coronation on Saturday 6 May. In a statement, Buckingham Palace announced Prince Harry will attend the ceremony while his wife, Meghan Markle, will stay at home in California with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

“Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that the Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6 May,” the Palace said on 12 April. “The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.”

Prince Harry’s confirmation at the King’s coronation comes after months of speculation over whether the royal couple would attend the ceremony. It was reported that Harry was seeking an “apology” from Charles and Prince William before he made any commitment to the ceremony. Ahead of the publication of his memoir, Harry said in an interview that the “door is always open” for reconciliation.

Additional reporting by PA.