13 August 2023 , 12:53
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For those who are familiar with Netflix's The Crown, you will be aware of a storyline that sees the-then Prince Charles grow close with Camilla Shand, while Princess Anne becomes entangled with Andrew Parker Bowles.
As you may expect, the story has been heavily dramatised for the sake of the programme - but there does lie a grain of truth behind it.
It is known that the Princess Royal and Major Andrew Parker Bowles were incredibly close and bonded over a shared interest in horses. It is however said that their courtship did not overlap with King Charles and Camilla's budding relationship.
Princess Anne pictured with Andrew Parker Bowles (Alpha Photo Press Agency Ltd)While they split up many years ago, the couple remain close friends today and are often pictured together at British horse trial events. They were so close, in fact, that Princess Anne made Parker-Bowles one of her daughter Zara's godfathers when she was born in 1981.
While many may take the events of The Crown as gospel, it is important to remember that the storyline has been heavily embellished from dramatic purposes. And this is no better seen in the relationships had by the Queen's oldest two children.
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It is well-known that King Charles and Queen Camilla had known each other for many years before they eventually married in 2005 as they had been introduced in “the summer of 1972", according to Charles's biographer, Sally Bedell Smith.
But the popular show claims that their relationship overlapped with that of Princess Anne and Camilla's soon-to-be-husband, Andrew Parker Bowles. According to Bedell Smith, Parker Bowles did have a relationship with the Princess Royal as they were incredibly similar and shared many interests, such as horse riding and racing.
But Bedell Smith suggests in her book 'Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life: In the Shadow of the Throne' that as Andrew was Catholic, he was "an unlikely candidate for marriage to a member of the Royal Family".
The author explains: “Anne and Andrew started dating in June 1970,” and traces the relationship back to that year’s Royal Ascot, when Andrew was invited to Windsor to celebrate with the Royal Family. Andrew was already close with the royals and had served as a page at the late Queen's coronation in 1953. Even when their romance eventually wound down, they remained lifelong friends."
Andrew Parker Bowles married Camilla Shand at The Guards Chapel in London on July 4, 1973. Princess Anne married Captain Mark Phillips at Westminster Abbey on November 14, 1973. The author writes that: “The Crown is a fictional portrayal of the Royal Family and it’s beautifully done, beautifully written, beautifully acted... but, because of that, audiences tend to take it at face value. A lot of it is made up.”
As a result, this discredits the suggestion that the two relationships overlapped as Charles did not meet Camilla until “the summer of 1972—long after Andrew and Princess Anne’s romance was over. "
Bedell Smith adds: "They were introduced by mutual friend Lucia Santa Cruz, who told me about inviting them over for a drink at her flat in London. Prince Charles also told Jonathan Dimbleby that Lucia introduced them in 1972. Charles fell madly in love with Camilla, but to her it was a fling—he was the Prince of Wales. Meanwhile, Andrew was off in Ireland and Cyprus for six months.”
Andrew and Camilla divorced in 1995 and he was pictured attending the blessing service of his ex-wife and the then Prince Charles in 2005 with their two children, Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes. Andrew married Rosemary Dickinson in 1996, but she sadly passed away in 2010 after a long battle with cancer.