Andrew Parker Bowles

Brigadier Andrew Henry Parker Bowles OBE (born 27 December 1939) is a retired British Army officer. He is the former husband of the Duchess of Cornwall, who is now married to the Prince of Wales.

Early life and family
Andrew Parker Bowles was born 27 December 1939 to Derek Henry Parker Bowles, a great-grandson of the 6th Earl of Macclesfield, and Dame Ann Parker Bowles DCVO, daughter of multimillionaire racehorse owner Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 4th Baronet. The de Traffords are notable recusants, that is, an old English family who have been Roman Catholic for hundreds of years. His christening announcement in The Times listed his godparents as Sir Humphrey de Trafford, the Marquess of Hartington, Miss Mary de Trafford and Miss Swinnerton-Dyer. His parents were close friends of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Some sources have stated that his godmother was also The Queen Mother. Ann Parker Bowles was named a Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. He was a page boy at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Parker Bowles is in the line of succession to the Earldom of Macclesfield.

Military career
Parker Bowles was educated at the Benedictine Ampleforth College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) in 1960. He was aide-de-camp to the Governor-General of New Zealand, Sir Bernard Fergusson, in about 1965. He was then Adjutant Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) 1967–1969. The regiment became The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) 1969, and he was the Adjutant of The Blues and Royals 1969–1970. Parker Bowles was promoted to major 31 December 1971.

He was squadron leader of "B" squadron in 1972 on Exercise "Motorman" in Ulster. Later he was Senior Military Liaison Officer to Christopher Soames, Baron Soames, when he was Governor of Rhodesia during its transition to the majority rule state of Zimbabwe in 1979–1980. He was staff qualified (sq), and became a Lieutenant-Colonel 30 June 1980.

In 1981–1983 he was Commanding Officer of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, and was commanding during the Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings, when men and horses from his regiment were killed and injured by a terrorist bomb. He was one of the first to the scene, arriving on foot after hearing the bomb blast, and his orders led to the saving of later famous horse Sefton.

From 1987 to 1990 he was Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding the Household Cavalry and Silver Stick in Waiting to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. On 30 June 1990 he was promoted to brigadier, and was director of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1991–1994. He retired in 1994.

Parker Bowles held the following ranks:
 * 23 January 1962, Lieutenant
 * 23 July 1966, Captain
 * 31 December 1971, Major
 * 1 December 1980, seniority backdated to 30 June 1980, Lieutenant Colonel
 * 30 June 1987, Colonel
 * 31 December 1990, seniority backdated to 30 June 1990, Brigadier
 * 27 December 1994, retired

Personal life
Parker Bowles was a player on the Prince of Wales polo team in the 1970s. He dated Princess Anne in the early 1970s. In 1973, he married Camilla Rosemary Shand in a Roman Catholic ceremony; formerly, she was a girlfriend of the Prince of Wales, so they had both dated royal siblings. They have two children, Tom and Laura, who were raised Roman Catholic. Laura attended St Mary's, Shaftesbury, a Catholic girls school in Dorset, while Tom attended Eton College. Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles divorced in 1995. A year later he married his long-time mistress and companion, Rosemary Pitman. Rosemary (née Dickinson) was first married to Lieutenant-Colonel (John) Hugh Pitman, a descendant of Sir Isaac Pitman, inventor of the Pitman system of shorthand (stenography), and also the brother-in-law of Edmund Fermoy (5th Baron Fermoy), an uncle of Diana, Princess of Wales. Andrew and Rosemary Parker Bowles attended the Wedding of Camilla and the Prince of Wales, which took place on 9 April 2005. Rosemary Parker Bowles died on Sunday 10 January 2010, aged 69.

His godchildren include the circus trapeze artist Lady Emma Herbert, who was a bridesmaid at his first marriage in July 1973. and Zara Phillips, daughter of Princess Anne.