Her son, Tom Parker Bowles, said he has to watch the news to find out what his mother is up to because she never answers her phone
Queen Camilla apparently didn’t make the cut for the family WhatsApp chat — but it’s not because of any animosity.
It’s simply because, according to her son Tom Parker Bowles, his mother’s phone — an “old fashioned” Nokia — is too old to support WhatsApp entirely. In an interview with Woman & Home, Tom, 49, was asked if his family had a WhatsApp group, as many families do (including the royal family).
“We do — my children, my sister and cousins,” Tom replied. “But my mum still uses an old fashioned Nokia telephone, so [she] can’t. I think it’s for security.”
According to the Times, “for reasons of national security, little is known about the mobile phones that the royal family use.” Even on her Nokia, Tom said he couldn’t get a hold of his mom — who is currently in Samoa on the second leg of her two-country Oceania tour with husband King Charles — because she’s so busy. He had to find out what she was up to by watching the news, he told the outlet.
“She’s working a lot harder,” Tom said. “She’s always worked quite hard, [so] it’s still the case of, I ring my mother, she doesn’t answer. I look on the television [and think], ‘Ah! She’s in Jersey.’ ”
Camilla, 77, who was married to Tom’s father Andrew Parker Bowles before their divorce and her eventual remarriage to Charles in 2005, apparently becomes “quite cross” if her grandchildren have their phones out at the dinner table — and will tell them to put them away, according to the Times. Tom has two children, Lola and Freddy, and Camilla’s daughter Laura Lopes has three children, Eliza, Gus and Louis.
While not much is known about royal family members and their cell phones, in his book Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, Gyles Brandreth said that Queen Elizabeth “had her own mobile phone, and obliging grandchildren ready to show her how it worked,” he wrote.
“She understood texting, though was rather defeated by apps. And she did not allow her grandchildren to bring their devices to the dining table, under any circumstances,” Brandreth continued.
According to the Telegraph, the King, 75, doesn’t own a phone and lets his staff take his phone calls. Mike Tindall, who is Princess Anne’s son-in-law and is married to her daughter Zara Tindall, revealed in 2018 that the royal family has a WhatsApp group chat.
“I wouldn’t say we’re cutting edge, but it’s just easier for some reason on WhatsApp,” he said. “I’m in about 25,000 groups. You might do it for a get together and just stay on the group, and occasionally people will post. You’re scared to leave because you don’t want to be seen to be rude.”
In October 2023, Prince William and Kate Middleton revealed their most-used emojis during an interview with Radio 1 hosts Jordan North and Vick Hope. The Prince of Wales, 42, joked that he’d have to think of a more PG option because his initial answer would be the aubergine [eggplant] emoji.
“Is this a clean thing or is this a family one?” the royal said, laughing. “I’ve been told not to say the aubergine but I’m saying now — because I’ve got to be all grown up — it’s the one where the eyes go up and down and the mouth’s out. What’s that one? The slightly crazy one.”
Both North and Hope were entertained by Prince William’s aubergine emoji comment. “He said the aubergine emoji — this is brilliant!” North said, as Hope added, “He knows. He’s got a dirty mind.”
As for Kate, 42, “Mine’s probably going to be the heart with then the crying emoji. The hysterical laughing when things have gone wrong,” she said.
In March 2024, Prince William — speaking at the opening of a youth facility — spoke with teenagers who said they spent too much time on their phones. The Prince of Wales told the teens that “the grownups are guilty of it, too,” and added that people across generations spend “ages on our phones” and “we have got to get better at it.”
Except, apparently, Queen Camilla, who has apparently got that part of life figured out. She and King Charles wrap up their tour of Australia and Samoa on Saturday, Oct. 26, and Tom told PEOPLE that his stepfather is “a magnificent king.”
“The King is strong,” Tom said of Charles, who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. “He is doing what he can. He’s following the advice of his doctors. Fingers crossed, touch wood.”
Of the Queen, Tom told PEOPLE “my mother is strong as well. She supports him in every way. I think it’s wonderful to have someone you love by your side.”
He added, “I’m incredibly proud of her. She’s at an age when most people think of retiring, but she never complains; she just gets on with it.”
