Who Was Queen Camilla's First Husband? All About Andrew Parker Bowles

Queen Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles were married for over 20 years and share two children

Before becoming Queen Camilla through her marriage to King Charles, Camilla (née Shand) was first wed to Andrew Parker Bowles for over two decades.

The pair were married from 1973 to 1995 and, during that time, welcomed two children: son Tom and daughter Laura. They also have five grandchildren, three grandsons and two granddaughters, between their kids.

After divorcing, they each remarried — Camilla tied the knot with Charles in 2005 while Andrew married Rosemary Parker Bowles (née Pitman) in 1996 — but the two remained close friends.

Andrew will reportedly be one of the 2,000 guests at the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey on May 6, where they will be crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury. His and Camilla's children and grandchildren will also be in attendance, with three of their grandsons even serving special roles as Pages of Honor for the Queen Consort.

So who is Queen Camilla's first husband? Here's everything to know about Andrew Parker Bowles and his former marriage with the royal.

He has ties to the royal family

According to royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith, Andrew's father, Derek Parker Bowles, was good friends with Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

Bedell Smith wrote of their friendship in her book, Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, calling Derek a "racing enthusiast and jovial character."

She also detailed how at age 13, Andrew served as a page in the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, which she called "a mark of royal esteem."

He served in the military

Andrew served in the military for 34 years, from 1960 to 1994. He held several positions throughout his career, eventually rising to the rank of brigadier. At the time of his retirement, he was serving as director of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps.

In 1980, Andrew was awarded The Queen's Commendation for Bravery in Zimbabwe, an honor bestowed on individuals for acts of courage that merit national recognition.

He dated Queen Elizabeth's daughter Princess Anne

In an interview with Elle magazine, Bedell Smith shared that Princess Anne and Andrew had their first date at the Royal Ascot in June 1970, just before the royal turned 20.

According to her writings in Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, Bedell Smith said that the pair had much in common, including their equestrian skills, but that their romance was unlikely to go the distance. With Andrew being Catholic, he was an improbable match for the royal.

After their relationship fizzled out, Andrew and Princess Anne remained good friends and are still frequently spotted at events together. Andrew is even a godfather of Princess Anne's daughter, Zara Tindall (née Phillips).

He and Camilla got engaged after her relationship with Prince Charles ended

Andrew and Camilla met in the late 1960s, shortly before Camilla was first introduced to Prince Charles by a mutual friend in 1970. Camilla and Charles hit it off immediately, though their relationship became strained when Charles joined the Royal Navy a year later.

The two went their separate ways, and Camilla reconnected with Andrew, accepting his marriage proposal while Prince Charles was stationed aboard in the Caribbean.

Though these events were dramatized during season 3 of The Crown — which showed members of the royal family intervening to drive Camilla and Charles apart — historian Hugo Vickers wrote in The Crown Dissected that there is some fact in the depiction of how Camilla ended up engaged to Andrew.

"It is accepted that at that time Camilla was in love with Andrew Parker Bowles, a good-looking cavalry officer, who knew when to strike. Meanwhile, the young Prince of Wales was too unsure of himself to make up his mind. There was no need for any palace plot," he explained.

He married Camilla in 1973

Andrew and Camilla tied the knot on July 4, 1973, at the Guards Chapel in London. She was nearly 26 years old and he was 33. Following the wedding, their reception was held at St. James's Palace.

He shares two children with Camilla

On Dec. 18, 1974, the couple welcomed their first child, son Tom. Camilla and Andrew named Prince Charles, who was by then married to Princess Diana, as one of Tom's godfathers. About three years later, they welcomed daughter Laura on Jan. 1, 1978.

Tom, a food writer and critic, has two children — daughter Lola and son Freddy — with his ex-wife Sara Buys.

Laura is married to Harry Lopes and has three children: daughter Eliza and twin boys, Gus and Louis. She's made a name for herself as an art curator and managed Eleven Fine Art for 10 years.

All three of the pair's grandsons will support Queen Camilla during the coronation by serving as Pages of Honor.

He and Camilla divorced in 1995 after her affair with Prince Charles

Around 1978-1979, approximately five years into Andrew and Camilla's marriage, Camilla began engaging in a romantic relationship with Charles again. Though Andrew was apparently aware of the affair, he reportedly didn't intervene.

"Andrew was in no position to complain; and when he discovered what was going on, he wisely didn't make a fuss," an excerpt from The Duchess: The Untold Story recalled. "Some would say that a part of him actually quite enjoyed the fact that his wife was sleeping with the future King; he might have felt differently had Charles been a traveling salesman."

Their relationship continued through Charles' marriage to Princess Diana, though after private conversations between Charles and Camilla while they were still married to their respective spouses were leaked to the press in 1992, things quickly fell apart. Prince Charles and Princess Diana officially announced their separation later that year.

Three years later, Andrew and Camilla announced their intention to divorce, saying that their differing interests led to the pair living separate lives. The divorce was finalized in 1995, the same year that Diana gave a candid interview to BBC's Panorama in which she said, "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."

He got remarried shortly after the divorce

The year following his divorce from Camilla, Andrew got remarried to Rosemary Parker Bowles (née Pitman) in 1996. Rosemary, a garden designer, had also been previously married and shared three children with her ex-husband.

Despite their divorce, Andrea and Camilla remained friendly and reportedly spent time together with their respective spouses over the years. Andrew and Rosemary even joined Camilla and Charles at Sandringham on numerous occasions, according to the Gazette and Herald,

Andrew and Rosemary remained married until her death from cancer in January 2010 at age 69. Speaking to the Gazette and Herald after his mother's death, Rosemary's son Henry Pitman reflected on her final days with her family, saying, "She was very pleased to have made Christmas and then Andrew's birthday, his 70th, just after Christmas, and subsequently the birth of his grandchildren."

He remains close to the royal family

Andrew lives a relatively quiet life these days, though he has remained close to the royal family and occasionally represents them at services and events.

In October 2022, he formally represented Queen Camilla at John Bowes-Lyon's funeral, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth and a relative of Andrew on his mother's side. According to the court circular, the official record of royal engagements that are carried out, he has represented Princess Anne on several different occasions as well.

Andrew is also often seen at events with his good friend, Princess Anne, including the Royal Ascot and Cheltenham Festival.

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