As Queen Camilla turns 76, her son’s ex-wife dishes on ‘the hate years’

Queen Camilla's son's ex-wife dishes on 'the hate years'

Queen Camilla still has a special bond with her former daughter-in-law Sara Parker Bowles.

Sara was married to the monarch’s son, Tom, from 2005 until 2018.

The fashion editor opened up about her relationship with Camilla — who turned 76 on July 17.

The royal’s ex-family member told the Times how when she and Tom got together, Camilla was having a hard time with her public image — a period dubbed “the hate years.”

“[Camilla] wasn’t accepted at all. She didn’t talk about it. She was just very brave and uncomplaining,” Sara said.

“Tom was worried it would happen all over again when the Queen died, but it has been the opposite,” she said, also alluding to how she believed Camilla would behave after Queen Elizabeth passed.

The Queen died in September 2022, with Camilla and her husband, King Charles, becoming monarchs upon her passing.

Sara and Camilla have stayed close despite Sara and Tom divorcing.

Sara Parker Bowles said in an interview that she still has a close relationship with her former mother-in-law Queen Camilla.
Sara Parker Bowles said in an interview that she still has a close relationship with her former mother-in-law, Queen Camilla

Tom Parker Bowles and Sara Parker Bowles on their wedding day.
After five years of dating, Tom Parker Bowles married Sara in 2005

Sara and her kids, Lola and Freddy, attended the coronation in May, with her 13-year-old son serving as one of Camilla’s pages of honor.

The Wardrobe Revivals founder looked back on the crowning, saying: “Camilla was really, really nervous. She wanted the people that she loved around her. [The king] wasn’t nervous at all. But Camilla didn’t ask for any of this.”

“She’s the human face of the royal family because she’s not part of it. You need those outsiders, really,” Sara added, also noting that her children still call their grandmother “Gaga.”

Sara Parker-Bowles
Sara has two children, Lola and Freddy

She then happily recalled seeing her son on the balcony of Buckingham Palace alongside King Charles and Camilla, right after the coronation at Westminster Abbey.

“I was quite obsessively watching him. But I knew by then he was going to be OK, that I could sort of let go,” she said.

“He wanted to go in the gold carriage, but he didn’t get to. Then his face on the balcony — I could see he was just like, whoa! My favorite part of the whole day was that he did a little wave that he wasn’t supposed to,” Sara gushed.

Camilla's daughter Laura (from left); Camilla herself; King Charles; Sara Parker Bowles and Tom Parker Bowles at the races in 2006.
(From left) Camilla’s daughter Laura, Camilla, Charles, Sara Parker Bowles and Tom Parker Bowles at the races in 2006

She revealed that she was sent an email earlier this year in which a representative for Charles asked what gift Lola desired for her 16th birthday.

“It was just surreal. Like language from a fairy tale,” she recounted, saying that the message simply read: “The king would like to know what Lola wants for her birthday.”

Related Posts

💍✨ Keanu Reeves & Alexandra Grant Just Dropped a Magical Wedding Photo Teaser at St. Patrick’s Cathedral – Fans Around the World Can’t Stop Screaming! 🌍📸🔥

In a city where dreams are forged in steel and stone, and where the line between reality and romance blurs under the glow of Broadway marquees, Keanu…

Bayou Echoes in the Honky-Tonk Heart: John Foster’s Barrel House Live Ignites Nashville’s Soul

In the dim, smoke-hazed glow of Nashville’s Barrel House Live, where the walls whisper secrets of forgotten fiddles and the floorboards creak under the weight of a…

The Circle’s Awakening: John Foster’s Opry Debut Ignites Nashville’s Soul with Unyielding Grit

The Grand Ole Opry House, that unassuming icon of American music where the ghosts of Hank, Patsy, and Loretta still shuffle in the shadows, stood on the…

Jingle All the Way: CMA Country Christmas 2025 Promises Festive Fireworks with Riley Green and Megan Moroney Leading the Pack

As the echoes of the 2025 CMA Awards fade into Nashville’s neon night—Lainey Wilson’s triumphant reclaiming of Entertainer of the Year still ringing in the rafters—the country…

Twinkling Lights and Timeless Threads: Reba McEntire and Ruby Leigh’s Christmas Duet Lights Up The Voice Finale

The Universal Studios Hollywood soundstage, that sprawling canvas of controlled chaos where The Voice has conjured vocal miracles for over a decade, shimmered like a storybook Christmas…

Craving a New True-Crime Binge? These 10 Netflix Docs Will Ruin Your Sleep Schedule—Starting with a Home Invasion That Feels Straight Out of Your Nightmares.

It’s 2 a.m., your lights are off, and you’re three episodes deep into a rabbit hole of real-life monsters, wrongful convictions, and plot twists sharper than a…