Queen Camilla’s Son Gives Health Update on Her Ongoing Illness

Thomas Parker Bowles has shared a positive update amid his mother Queen Camilla’s recent health issues. The 77-year-old British royal has been forced to miss several engagements as she continues to recover from pneumonia, with her son sharing during a Sunday, Dec. 8 appearance on The Go To Food Podcast that “it will all be fine.”

“Most pressingly, how is your ma doing? Because she was a bit under the weather. Is she going to be in full recovery mode for silly season?” host Freddy Clode asked at the top of the episode, to which Parker Bowles replied, “I think so, I think, yeah, these things go around … these bugs.”

The 49-year-old, the son of Camilla and her ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles, went on to dismiss rumors surrounding his mother’s health, stating that there’s “no great conspiracy theory.” He added that Camilla became ill after she and her husband King Charles embarked on their overseas tour to Australia and Samoa in October.

“She did the tour, and she caught some kind of awful bug. And then, before she was well again, [she] worked too hard as she’s wont to do,” he said. “But anyway, touch wood, it will all be fine.”

Buckingham Palace first announced on Nov. 5 that Camilla had been diagnosed with a “seasonal chest infection” and was advised by her doctors to take a “short period of rest.” It was later revealed in December that Camilla contracted pneumonia and was still experiencing post-viral fatigue. While speaking at a London reception commemorating the 50th anniversary of the charity Women’s Aid on Dec. 5, Camilla said she was “still a bit tired. It catches up a bit,” the Daily Mail reported.

Although Camilla’s condition has forced her to roll back some royal engagements – she pulled out of Remembrance Day events and also the outdoor elements of a two-day Qatari state visit to the UK, among others – her son said he feels confident his mother will be able to enjoy the holidays. Asked by Clode if “she’s going to be able to enjoy the run into Christmas?,” Parker Bowles said, “she’s tough.”

According to Bowles, he has received his first invite to spend Christmas with the Royal Family at Sandringham, though he’s unsure if he’ll accept, as he typically spends the holiday with his ex-wife and children. He quipped, “It’s been quite a while since I put on something smart for Christmas, gone to church … so genuinely not entirely sure, but I’m sure that it will work itself out.”