Is Tom Parker Bowles eyeing the crown? Queen Camilla's son opens up

Tom Parker Bowles has never pretended that royal proximity automatically equals royal status and he’s happy keeping it that way. 

The food writer and broadcaster recently offered a dose of self-aware humour while appearing on Samuel Goldsmith’s Good Food podcast, where he joked that Britain would be in uproar if he were ever handed a princely title.

Parker Bowles suggested the nation’s calm disposition would vanish overnight if he suddenly joined the royal ranks, quipping that such a scenario would send crowds rushing toward Buckingham Palace gates. 

Far from tempting fate, he revealed that elevating him to royal status would do the monarchy no favours and might even set it back rather than move it forward.

Goldsmith teased that a royal title could land him a glossy streaming deal. Parker Bowles didn’t miss a beat admitting he wouldn’t object to that particular perk.

As the son of Queen Camilla and her former husband Andrew Parker Bowles, Tom has long occupied a unique space adjacent to royal life without being consumed by it. 

He and his sister Laura Lopes were both adults when their mother married King Charles in 2005, and Tom has since spoken warmly about the realities of modern, blended families.

He has frequently praised the King’s role within the family, describing him as a devoted and attentive step-grandfather to his children, Lola and Freddy.