Who is Tom Parker Bowles? Prince Charles's stepson devastated by girlfriend's death after cancer battle
Tom Parker Bowles, Prince Charles’s stepson, was reportedly left heartbroken after his girlfriend of two years died from cancer at 42. Tom, 46, who is a food critic, was dating former journalist Alice Procope, who was known as Alice Horton while working as a reporter.
“Tom had been blissfully happy with Alice and is devastated that life can be so cruel,” the source said. The mother-of-three died peacefully at home on March 17, seven months after she was diagnosed with the disease.
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Who is Tom Parker Bowles?
Tom is the son of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Andrew Parker Bowles. He has one younger sister, Laura Lopes. He is close with Prince Charles, who, along with being the future kind of England, is also his godfather and stepfather. He has always maintained that he admired the way he handled his relationship with Camilla.
He is a British food writer and food critic and the author of seven cookbooks. In 2010, he won the Guild of Food Writers 2010 award for his writings on British food. He is known for his appearances as a judge in numerous television food series and for his reviews of restaurant meals around the United Kingdom and overseas for GQ, Esquire and The Mail.
Tom studied at Summer Fields prep school in Oxford. In the 1980s, he and his sister attended Heywood Preparatory School in Corsham. He later attended Eton College and Worcester College, Oxford. Immediately after leaving school, Tom fell in love with food writing and said that his mother's cooking skills and recipes were what inspired him to become a food writer.
He married Sara Buys, an associate editor of Harpers & Queen magazine and senior editor of British Town & Country magazine, after dating her for five years. The couple has two children, born in 2007 and 2010. He separated from his wife in 2018.
Who was Tom's girlfriend?
Alice Procope was the granddaughter of the 2nd Viscount Ingleby and had three young children with her estranged husband, Robert Procope, grandson of baronet Sir Robert Wigram. One of her friends said about her cancer diagnosis: “Partly because of Covid, Alice’s cancer diagnosis didn’t come until last August by when it was too late. That’s what’s so really cruel and there will be countless others like her.”
Tom Teodorczuk, who worked with Procope on the Standard’s Londoner’s Diary in 2003-2004, paid tribute to her on Saturday. “She was a great journalist, so well connected and amazing fun to work with,” he said. “She knew everyone in those days including Boris Johnson. She will be greatly missed. I was so sad to hear of her death, she was so young.”
Another of her colleagues, Steph McGovern, tweeted: "Woah, bit of a shock today hearing about the death of Alice Procope. We worked together as journalists for a while. She was so much fun. Gutted for her family. 42 is no age."
Woah, bit of a shock today hearing about the death of Alice Procope. We worked together as journalists for a while. She was so much fun.
— Steph McGovern (@StephLunch) March 27, 2021
Gutted for her family. 42 is no age. #ripAlice
Procope sadly leaves behind three children — Katherine, Wilfred and Georgia.