Tom Parker Bowles calls King Charles 'most knowledgeable, lovely man'

Queen Camilla's son Tom Parker Bowles rarely discusses his royal relations - but recently expressed his admiration for his step father, King Charles.

In a recent interview with Hello! magazine, the restaurant critic called the king 'the kindest, most knowledgeable, lovely man' and the praised the monarch's relationship with Camilla - describing the pair as 'very well suited'.

The queen's son, who has been a restaurant critic for the last 25 years, released his eighth book, Cooking and the Crown,  on 24 September. 

During an interview with the publication, the food writer thanked Charles for his 'invaluable assistance' in writing the recently released book, Cooking and the Crown - a monarchical book that includes generations of royal recipes.

The food writer praised King Charles for his help in making the book happen. He told Hello!: 'It wouldn't have happened without the Palace and the King.'

He described the monarch as 'the kindest, most knowledgeable, lovely man. He is someone you can ask about food and it's like asking an academic.'

Discussing his mother's relationship with King Charles, he said: 'They're very well suited. They work well together, and we're happy that our mother's happy.'    

He also praised Charles' knowledge of his 'kingdom' and how much he knows about British farming.

Tom's new monarchical book combines history with food and features generations of royal recipes - including several of his own mother's favourites and some of the current king's.

It comes after the food critic revealed his mother is a 'good cook' but never follows a recipe, during the latest episode of Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, which aired on Sunday.

During his segment on the popular programme, Tom opened up about how food was always an important part of family life when growing up in Wiltshire with his mother and his father, Andrew Parker Bowles, Camilla's first husband.

Promoting his new royal focused book, Tom discussed his upbringing and his early relationship with food. 

He said: 'My father was, and still is, I was about to say, great gardener, a good gardener in your company. He's a good gardener. He was very obsessed with his vegetable garden, so we... could follow the seasons through the garden.

'And my mother was a good cook. Still is a good cook, a very basic English cook. Didn't like baking, didn't like measurements... no scales, And no recipes either.

'You know, her roast chicken, I bang on about endlessly... "well, you just do it." So you'd have to sort of watch.'

He also revealed how the first Sainsbury's arriving in Chippenham was like 'something from outer space' for him and his sister Laura Lopes, after spending their childhood eating everything seasonal, locally or organically sourced.

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Queen's son Tom Parker Bowles says Camilla is a 'good cook' but never follows a recipe

Tom recalled: 'You could get angel delight... and Coca Cola and white bread and everything we're supposed to hate now, these super processed foods were, for us, the most thrilling, exciting thing.

'I mean, forget organic, forget seasonal, forget local. We wanted that. So it's funny how things change now. You know what was necessity back in the old days is now seen as a sort of lifestyle choice.

'But yes, we had a really happy, food-filled childhood in the country,' adds the writer, before explaining how his mother's 'downtime' is now more important since becoming Queen.

'It's that thing of thinking where's my mother and then I look on the television or read the newspaper. "Ah there she is". So you know that she's looked after and she's happy,' he explains, when asked if it is more difficult to see his parent now.

Tom continued: 'I've got children. My sister's got children and she's a really good grandmother. So we go down, you know, to her house in Wiltshire, and that's where we can relax.'

The food critic also touches on the King's love for the countryside and agriculture and reveals how his children call Charles 'Uppa' and how they 'have grown up with this man that they all love and think is wonderful.'