In a recent Daily Beast piece, Royalist columnist Tom Sykes said that this year’s royal Christmas festivities at Sandringham would be a lot different. Apparently, Prince William and Kate plan to skip a lot of the more formal aspects of the royal Christmas at the big house, opting to spend more time with the Middletons, who will be holed up at Anmer Hall. Within that piece, Sykes wrote that William and Kate prefer “the informality of a relaxed lunch at Anmer Hall, and they are unlikely to attend this year, especially if Queen Camilla again invites her son Tom Parker Bowles. William doesn’t much like Camilla, despite having made peace with his father’s choices, and is made nervous by Tom’s somewhat louche lifestyle.” It’s not a surprise that William hates Tom Parker Bowles, especially given that (I believe) Tom and his crew were part of the reason why the Rose Hanbury story came out.
It’s also established that Queen Camilla’s family gets prioritized over the actual royal family – Camilla made a point of including her kids and grandkids at Sandringham last year, which was sort of the first time the extended Parker-Bowles crew got a literal seat at the table. But according to Tom Parker Bowles, he didn’t go to Sandringham last year? And he doesn’t spend Christmas with his mother ever?
The royal family may be steeped in tradition, but under King Charles and Queen Camilla, it now reflects the modern realities of a blended family. Since their marriage 19 years ago, following their extramarital affair and respective divorces—Charles from Princess Diana in 1996 and Camilla from Andrew Parker Bowles in 1995—they’ve brought together a unique family, where Camilla’s children, Tom Parker Bowles, 49, and Laura Lopes, 46, are stepsiblings to Prince William, 42, and Prince Harry, 40.
“We live in 2024 and blended families – it’s a little bit different from the days of Victoria and Edward. If they’re happy then we’re happy and that’s where it all starts from,” Camilla’s son, Tom, tells PEOPLE amid the release of his latest book, Cooking and the Crown: Royal Recipes from Queen Victoria to King Charles III.
“We blend in and blend,” he continues. “Of course there’s the boys [William and Harry], and talking of the wider family, Peter Phillips is a little bit younger than me and I’ve grown up with him, and Zara [Tindall]. The York girls [Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie] are two of the nicest women you’d hope to meet.”
Yet, despite reports last year suggesting otherwise, Parker Bowles, 49, confirms he still hasn’t joined the royal family for their traditional Christmas gathering in Sandringham.
“We are married in, we are not the royal family – I’ve never for one second said that,” he says. “I find everyone incredibly nice and friendly and we’ve know them all for a long time. It does seem natural. 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.”
Although they don’t spend Christmas at Sandringham, Camilla often joins her children and ex-husband for a post-holiday gathering. “My mother and father are still great friends and we will go down on December 27 and my mother will sometimes come,” Tom says. “It is something to work towards. It’s a maturity that is a great thing if — despite a marriage sometimes not working –you can keep it together for the sake of the children and the sake of each other then it’s a very good thing.”
Reflecting on his own split from Buys (the couple separated in 2018 and finalized their divorce in 2022), he adds, “I’m divorced, but you get on with your ex-wife for the sake of the children, that’s what matters. My priority is to make sure my children are happy and safe and comfortable – just like any other divorced father.”
Reading between the lines, I’m guessing that Tom’s relationship with his ex-wife Sara Buys is more complicated than we’ve been led to believe, and that Sara probably doesn’t want her kids to be stuck in Sandringham on Christmas Day, and Tom follows her lead. Either that or Tom is just lying and he was in Norfolk last year. It’s funny that Tom is saying this just days after “sources” emphasized that Prince William wouldn’t show up to Christmas lunch if Tom is there. Is Tom trying to keep the peace? I bet Camilla will be mad as hell.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.