Camilla's ex-husband represented the queen consort in an official engagement. And observers wonder: is this the first step towards his gradual inclusion among the working members of the (extended) royal family?
King Charles III has put 'streamlining the monarchy' at the top of his 'to do list' as a new sovereign. Fewer (royal) employees, less spending, more saving. Yet in the corridors that count, in London, there are rumours of a new recruit at Buckingham Palace: Andrew Parker Bowles, ex-husband of the queen consort Camilla, godfather of the king's niece, Zara Tindall, former flame of the royal princess Anne, and friend of King Charles himself.
Igniting the gossip was Camilla's decision to entrust her ex-husband with the task of representing her at an official engagement: the funeral of John Bowes-Lyon, Queen Elizabeth's second cousin, who died at the age of 80. At the service, which was held on Thursday, Camilla should have been present, but she asked Parker Bowles to go in her place. And he willingly – at least according to well-informed reports – agreed.
'Andrew is always happy to do what the royal family asks of him, and then he still has a very close relationship with Camilla,' one of Parker Bowles' friends blurts out to the Daily Mail.
On closer inspection, the fact that the task has been entrusted to him at all is not so strange. Granted that, even after their divorce in 1995, Andrew and Camilla continued to be good friends, the former officer was also related to John Bowes-Lyon, who was his first cousin. Many, however, think that, given the Queen Consort's many new commitments (which often overlap), her ex-husband will often be seen in the role of her 'deputy' in the future, not only in situations that concern him closely.
In short, according to keen observers, this is but the first step towards a gradual inclusion of Parker Bowles among the working members of the royal family. An extended royal family.