Andrew Parker Bowles

Andrew Parker Bowles OBE
Born	Andrew Henry Parker Bowles 27 December 1939
Spouse(s)	Camilla Shand (m. 1973; div. 1995) Rosemary Pitman (m. 1996; d. 2010)
Children	Tom Parker Bowles Laura Lopes
Parent(s)	Derek Henry Parker Bowles Dame Ann de Trafford DCVO
Relatives	Emma Parker Bowles (niece) Derek Paravicini (nephew) Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 4th Baronet (maternal grandfather) Thomas Parker, 6th Earl of Macclesfield (paternal great-grandfather)

Brigadier Andrew Henry Parker Bowles OBE (born 27 December 1939)^[1] is a retired British Army officer. He is the former husband of Camilla Parker Bowles, who is now the Duchess of Cornwall as the wife of the Prince of Wales.

Early life and family

Andrew Parker Bowles was born on 27 December 1939 as the eldest of four children to Derek Henry Parker Bowles, a great-grandson of the 6th Earl of Macclesfield, and Dame Ann Parker Bowles DCVO,^[2] daughter of multimillionaire racehorse owner Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 4th Baronet. The de Traffords are notable recusants, that is, an old English family which had been Roman Catholic since 1632 after a couple of generations of being Protestants. His christening announcement in The Times listed his godparents as Sir Humphrey de Trafford, the Marquess of Hartington, Miss Mary de Trafford and Miss Swinnerton-Dyer.^[3] His parents were close friends of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Some sources have stated that his godmother was also the Queen Mother.^[4] Parker Bowles was a page at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.^[5] He is in the line of succession to the Earldom of Macclesfield.^[6] His sister Mary Ann is mother to Derek Paravicini, the blind autistic savant and a musical prodigy.^[7]

Military career

Parker Bowles was educated at the Benedictine Ampleforth College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) in 1960. He was aide-de-camp to the Governor-General of New Zealand, Sir Bernard Fergusson, in about 1965.^[2] He was then Adjutant Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) 1967–1969. The regiment became The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) 1969, and he was the Adjutant of The Blues and Royals 1969–1970. Parker Bowles was promoted to major 31 December 1971.

He was squadron leader of "B" squadron in 1972 on Exercise "Motorman" in Ulster. Later he was Senior Military Liaison Officer to Christopher Soames, Baron Soames, when he was Governor of Rhodesia during its transition to the majority rule state of Zimbabwe in 1979–1980. He was staff qualified (sq), and became a Lieutenant-Colonel 30 June 1980.^[8] He was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Bravery in Zimbabwe.^[9]

In 1981–1983, he was Commanding Officer of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, and was commanding during the Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings, when men and horses from his regiment were killed and injured by a terrorist bomb. He was one of the first to the scene, arriving on foot after hearing the bomb blast, and his orders led to the saving of later famous horse Sefton.^[10]

From 1987 to 1990, he was Colonel Commanding the Household Cavalry and Silver Stick in Waiting to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. On 30 June 1990 he was promoted to brigadier, and was director of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1991–1994. He retired in 1994.^[11]

Parker Bowles held the following ranks:

• 23 January 1962, Lieutenant^[12]
• 23 July 1966, Captain^[13]
• 31 December 1971, Major^[14]
• 1 December 1980, seniority backdated to 30 June 1980, Lieutenant Colonel^[15]
• 30 June 1987, Colonel^[16]
• 31 December 1990, seniority backdated to 30 June 1990, Brigadier^[17]
• 27 December 1994, retired^[18]

Personal life

Parker Bowles was a player on the Prince of Wales' polo team in the 1970s and 1980s. He dated Princess Anne in early 1970s.^[19]

In 1973, he married Camilla Rosemary Shand, seven years his junior after an on and off relationship in a Roman Catholic ceremony; formerly, she was a girlfriend of the Prince of Wales, so they had both dated royal siblings. They lived at Bolehyde Manor and later Middlewick House in Wiltshire and had two children, Tom and Laura, who were raised Roman Catholic. Laura attended St Mary's, Shaftesbury, a Catholic girls school in Dorset, while Tom attended Eton College. Parker Bowles and Camilla divorced in 1995.^[2] A year later he married Rosemary Pitman. Rosemary (née Dickinson) was first married to Lieutenant-Colonel (John) Hugh Pitman, a descendant of Sir Isaac Pitman, inventor of the Pitman system of shorthand (stenography). Andrew and Rosemary Parker Bowles attended the wedding of Camilla and the Prince of Wales, which took place on 9 April 2005. Rosemary Parker Bowles died from cancer on 10 January 2010, aged 69.^[20]

His godchildren include the circus trapeze artist Lady Emma Herbert, who was a bridesmaid at his first marriage in July 1973,^[21] and Zara Phillips, daughter of Princess Anne.^[22][23]

Issue

Name	Birth	Marriage		Issue
Tom Parker Bowles	18 December 1974	10 September 2005	Sara Buys	Lola Rosalind Parker Bowles Freddy Parker Bowles
Laura Parker Bowles	1 January 1978	6 May 2006	Harry Lopes	Eliza Lopes Louis Lopes Gus Lopes

Ancestry

Ancestors of Andrew Parker Bowles

16. Thomas Parker, 6th Earl of Macclesfield               8. Rev. The Hon. Algernon Robert Parker                       17. Lady Mary Grosvenor               4. Eustace Parker                             18. The Hon. Edward Kenyon               9. Emma Jane Kenyon                       19. Caroline Susan Catherine Beresford               2. Derek Henry Parker Bowles                                   20. Henry Carrington Bowles, of Myddelton House               10. Col. Sir Henry Bowles, 1st Baronet, of Forty Hall                       21. Cornelia Kingdom               5. Wilma Mary Garnault Bowles                             22. John Lambart Broughton               11. Florence Broughton                       23. Anne Selina Adderley               1. Andrew Parker Bowles                                         24. Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 2nd Baronet, of Trafford Park               12. Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 3rd Baronet, of Trafford Park                       25. Lady Annette Mary Talbot               6. Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 4th Baronet, of Trafford Park                             26. James Franklin               13. Violet Alice Maude Franklin                       27. Jessica Mary Blyth               3. Dame Ann de Trafford                                   28. George Cadogan, 5th Earl Cadogan               14. Henry Cadogan, Viscount Chelsea                       29. Lady Beatrix Craven               7. The Hon. Cynthia Hilda Evelyn Cadogan                             30. Henry Sturt, 1st Baron Alington               15. The Hon. Mildred Cecilia Harriet Sturt                       31. Lady Augusta Bingham

References

1. "Andrew Parker-Bowles (Lt-Col, ex-husband of Camilla". Royalist.com. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
2. "Brigadier Andrew Henry Parker Bowles". The peerage. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
3. The Times: Andrew Parker Bowles, 13 February 1940, page 9, Retrieved 11 December 2009
4. "Charles and Camilla - family ties". BBC News. 10 February 2005. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
5. "Coronation 60 Years: Spam, the BBC and Rule Britannia". Daily Express. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
6. "Earl of Macclesfield family update". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
7. "Meet Derek, the amazing human iPod". smh.com. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
8. Wilson, Christopher (2003). The Windsor Knot. Citadel. p. 81. ISBN 0-8065-2386-7.
9. "Andrew Parker Bowles,Obe". harcourtdevelopments.com. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
10. Harris, Paul (2012-10-02). "Sefton, horse that had the world in tears". Daily Mail.
11. "Andrew Parker Bowles-Animalwarfund". animalsinwar.org.uk. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
12. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 42576. p. 585. 19 January 1962. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
13. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 44060. p. 8265. 21 July 1966. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
14. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45564. p. 88. 3 January 1972. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
15. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48505. p. 1198. 26 January 1981. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
16. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50979. p. 8355. 29 June 1987. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
17. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 52427. p. 1043. 21 January 1991. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
18. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 53902. p. 54. 30 December 1994. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
19. "Princess Anne comforts Andrew Parker Bowles at funeral of his wife Rosemary". Hello Magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
20. "Rosemary Parker Bowles dies after battle against cancer". The Daily telegraph. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
21. Bridesmaids Revisited, article from Daily Mail 13 December 2003, at highbeam.com
22. "Now Zara dazzles on HER day as a wedding princess: The Queen's granddaughter ties the knot with rugby ace Mike Tindall". Daily Mail. 31 July 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
23. "Royal Christenings". royal.gov.uk. 8 April 2004. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2015.