CAMILLA ANDREW & ANNE THE ROYAL LOVE TRIANGLE
PRINCESS ANNE’S AFFAIR WITH CAMILLA’S EX-HUSBAND!
Every year at Royal Ascot, Princess Anne is escorted to the parade ring by an old friend in top hat and morning coat with a twinkle in his eye and a spring in his step.
As the Queen’s only daughter and retired army officer Andrew Parker Bowles view the horses and enjoy each other’s company, you could be forgiven for thinking they were former lovers – and you would be right.
For incredibly, the Duchess of Cornwall’s former husband was Anne’s one-time lover and she still carries a torch for him today.
In his book A Greater Love, royal biographer Christopher Wilson tells how Andrew returned from a spell with the Army in Germany and was in an “off ” phase with his on-off girlfriend Camilla.
“He was off again in hot pursuit of Princess Anne, who at 19 was 11 years his junior, and at the time involved with Brian Alexander, the son of war hero Earl Alexander of Tunis.
“Anne, with a libido which matched the cavalry officer’s, caved in to his charm and enjoyed a torrid relationship.
“But Parker Bowles’ absence in Germany on duty, and the fact that, as a Roman Catholic, he knew he could never marry Anne without creating inner turmoil within the royal family, put a dampener on the relationship.”
Marriage was out of the question, but just like Charles’ romance with Camilla, Anne’s closeness to Andrew has survived decades of marriages to others, divorces and broken hearts.
In October 1972, Anne and Charles enjoyed a rare night out together as brother and sister.
They pitched up at Annabel’s nightclub in London. According to Wilson, the night ended with Anne dancing with wealthy landowner Gerald Ward. And Charles only had eyes for Camilla.
“When things slowed down Charles and Camilla took to the dance floor for Python Lee Jackson’s “In a Broken Dream” and Faron Young’s “It’s Four in the Morning”.
“At four in the morning they were no longer in Annabel’s, but in Camilla’s ground floor flat, discovering a passion which was to last many years; years of joy and adversity, but years where never once would the love die.”
The events of the following decades are well documented.
Charles dithered over Camilla. While he was away in the Navy she married Andrew, going on to have children Tom and Laura.
Charles’ affair with Camilla resumed in 1979 and Andrew became known in social circles as a man who “laid down his wife for his country”.
In 1981 Charles married 20-year-old Lady Diana Spencer and they had two children William and Harry.
But the marriage ended in divorce in 1996, by which time Charles had returned to Camilla and Diana had embarked on a series of affairs.
Andrew and Camilla also divorced, but Diana’s death in 1997 resulted in public hostility to Charles. Only in 2005 could he marry the love of his life.
And what of the other member of the quartet?
Anne married Captain Mark Phillips in 1973 and they had two children, Peter and Zara.
They divorced in 1992, and later that year Anne married Timothy Laurence, a former equerry to the Queen.
Andrew married Rosemary Pitman in 1996, but sadly she died of cancer in 2010.
At 70 and 71, Charles and Camilla seem happier than ever.
And at 79 and 68, Andrew and Anne look as close as friends can be, with rumours even circulating today that they are still secret lovers.
After nearly 50 years, the extraordinary royal “love square” has plenty of life left within its four corners.