The Royal Family gathered at Sandringham this morning for the annual Christmas service, but a mystery guest has left people bewildered.
Laura Lopes and Tom Parker-Bowles were in attendance for the first time, making a secretive entrance into the church and avoiding the crowds.
Laura is Camilla’s only daughter from her marriage to ex-husband Andrew Parker-Bowles, a guard’s officer. Joining her was brother Tom, a famous food critic who turned 50 last week.
It is believed that Camilla personally requested both her children to attend today’s Christmas service, according to The Telegraph.
Laura, an art curator, married chartered accountant Harry Lopes in Wiltshire in 2006. Wedding guests included Prince William, Prince Harry and Camilla.
But it has been reported that Laura has previously had terrible fights with William.
In the 2010 book Harry and William, author Katie Nicholl wrote: ‘William and Laura used to have terrible fights over who was to blame for their broken homes.
‘William would blame Camilla for all the hurt she had caused his mother [Princess Diana], which would send Laura into a rage. Laura was not having any of it.
‘She would take a hard line and fire back at William, “Your father has ruined my life”.’
Laura Rose Lopes is an English art curator and is the daughter of Andrew Parker Bowles and Queen Camilla. She is therefore the stepdaughter of King Charles III.
Laura, a well-known art curator, studied Art History with Marketing at Oxford Brookes University before establishing the fine art gallery Eleven in 2005.
That same year, her mother married King Charles, making her and brother Tom, 49, the stepchildren of a future monarch.
Laura and her husband Harry share three children together, daughter Eliza, 16, and twin sons, Gus and Louis, 15.
Speaking about attending the service today Laura’s brother Tom said his mum had been looking forward to seeing him.
He said: ‘My mum said, “I’d love you to come, I haven’t had Christmas with you for a long time.”
‘For the past 15 years, it has been: I go back to my ex-wife’s house, sit in my tracksuit bottoms, go to the pub while the beef’s in, then try to get my children to watch The Wild Geese. Classic. So this would be a bit different.
‘I know there’s turkey and sprouts and church. And I have to bring a suit and a dinner jacket.
Referring to Charles and Camilla, he said: ‘It has been a hell of a two years for them, the older you get, the more conscious you become of mortality, especially with illnesses and the rest of it.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
