Rare insight into Queen Camilla’s unfussy approach as Tom Parker Bowles reveals what she’d ‘never make’ at home

Queen Camilla’s son Tom Parker Bowles has shared an insight into her no-nonsense approach and what she'd "never" make.

Royals appearing on podcasts isn’t nearly as rare as it used to be and these special episodes give us fascinating insights every time. Whether they’re talking about parenthood like the Princess of Wales did on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast or sport like he, Prince William and Princess Anne did on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby, it’s a great way to show their personalities and share anecdotes. Whilst we’ve yet to hear King Charles or Queen Camilla record a podcast episode, Her Majesty’s son has opened up about his mum on the latest episode of Table Manners with Jessie & Lennie Ware.

The foodie series has previously had Princess Eugenie as a guest and restaurant critic Tom and wine expert Henry Jeffreys joined the Wares this month. During their chat, Tom debunked any suggestion that Queen Camilla isn’t a good cook and shared fond memories of her fuss-free approach in the kitchen.

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Asked by Lennie if the Queen still cooks for her son, Tom responded that - very understandably - this doesn’t happen "so much anymore". He then thought back to what it was like for his mum raising two children in Wiltshire in the 1970s and 1980s.

"You know it wasn’t like my dad would cook. He was there at the weekends," the food critic explained. "She was… Everyone can say ‘Oh you make it up’ , but it’s totally untrue, she was a good cook but she wasn’t a recipe follower."

Tom praised Her Majesty’s scrambled eggs, salads and, perhaps most importantly, her roast chicken. Sunday roasts are a classic British dish that many of us look forward to and Queen Camilla can apparently make a mean roast chicken, albeit without any frills or fuss.

"I suppose it would be - and I bang on about it so much - but it is my mum's roast chicken," he said after being questioned about a memorable childhood dish. "It’s that thing that, she would never give you a recipe. How did you cook it? Well, you just cook it. And then she would never make gravy. She’d cut off that fatty bit - you know the big that hangs over - and put it on the top and then she’d pour all the juices over your chicken. You know, and there’d be a baked potato. And that was it."

For some people a roast without gravy would be unimaginable but in their household, Tom shared, you "didn’t have a choice growing up… you had lunch or dinner at that was it".

It seems that Her Majesty liked to keep things simple when she was cooking for her children and nothing has really changed. In 2022 she and Tom did an interview for You magazine. In it, Queen Camilla admitted that she still enjoys cooking for herself when she is at her Wiltshire home, but doesn’t overcomplicate things.

Instead she likes making dishes like fish "en papillote with butter and herbs" and vegetables. Baking isn’t her forte and it’s interesting Tom mentioned her making baked potatoes with her roasts as she’s had a few disasters with them in the past.

"I could fill a book with all my cooking disasters. I’m not a natural baker, to say the least," Queen Camilla declared. "As for baked potatoes… Many a poor, incinerated specimen has been found in the bottom of the Aga, put in, then forgotten about."