The Duchess of Sussex and Tom Parker Bowles have two things in common: they’ve both blogged about food and both are launching food-centric projects this year. Meghan is doing a California-based cooking show for Netflix, and Queen Camilla’s son will publish a cookbook called Cooking and the Crown this fall. Would you believe that Meghan and Tom’s projects are being met with wildly different reactions from the royalist media? The royalist media has been in meltdown for weeks at the very thought of Meghan selling cookware. Meanwhile, the queen consort’s loser son literally used his royal connections to write a cookbook based on food served in palaces and castles. He put a crown on the book cover and “crown” in the book title. Obviously, this means that Tom Parker Bowles is sending a “message” to… Prince Harry. Because SPARE!

Queen Camilla’s son Tom Parker Bowles is bringing out a new book and it sends a message to Prince Harry after his damning Spare memoir, according to an expert. Food critic Tom’s book will feature over 100 recipes, from state banquets to breakfasts and behind-the-scenes facts about life in the royal kitchens. The book, Cooking and the Crown: Royal Recipes from Queen Victoria to King Charles III, is scheduled for publication in the UK on September 26, 2024.

Speaking about the book, royal author Phil Dampier told Fabulous: “Tom is very much supporting and celebrating the monarchy, and would never do anything to damage it. He is sending a message that you can talk about the monarchy in positive terms and not denigrate it as Harry did in Spare. Harry washed his dirty linen in public and that is something Tom would never do. He is the complete opposite to Prince Harry whose book was one long ‘poor me’ moan.”

Tom and sister Laura Lopes are Queen Camilla’s children from her previous marriage with retired British Army officer, Andrew Parker Bowles, who she divorced in 1995.

Unlike Prince Harry’s Spare, which revealed numerous personal details about the royals, including how William allegedly attacked him and how he labelled Meghan “difficult” and “rude”, Phil expects Tom to be “discrete” in his book. He explained: “Tom Parker Bowles has always been the soul of discretion where the royals are concerned, which can’t have been easy for him. As a journalist he is inevitably a natural gossip and he must have been privy to so many secrets over the years, like when his mother was going to marry Charles, and so many bits of inside information that others would kill for. But he has remained discreet and would obviously never do anything to upset his mother, who trusts him totally.”

Phil theorised that some may consider Tom to be “cashing in” on his royal connections by “writing a book about royal recipes”, but added: “You can hardly blame him.”

The royal expert added: “He’s not the first person to write such a book and there’s nothing to stop any other author applying to visit royal archives, you just have to go through a process. But obviously he can ask the Queen for a few titbits about royal banquets and events which others might not have access to. There are always going to be critics saying he is exploiting his position, but he didn’t get any choice as to who he is related to and whatever he does someone will carp from the sidelines.”

[From The Sun]

Just so we’re clear, they’ve now moved the goalposts to “it’s perfectly fine to cash in on your royal connections just as long as you’re dishonest and you never say a word against the Windsors!” That’s why the royalist media has collectively shrugged over Tom’s tacky exercise – because they know he will not spill any royal tea. In print anyway. Because despite Phil Dampier’s insistence that Tom is the soul of discretion, we can make direct connections from Camilla and Tom to Tatler Magazine’s shenanigans and to Giles Coren (one of Tom’s closest friends) and from there, half of the society gossip about the Waleses, the Sussexes and more. A mother and son who have Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson on speed dial don’t get to play the “we’re so discreet” angle.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.