Tom Parker Bowles had a "nightmare holiday" shortly after leaving school

He told The Sunday Times: "Shortly after I'd left school I had a nightmare holiday to Sintra, in Portugal. It was just me, my mother, my sister and various other family members and friends - my parents were divorced by then. We were staying in this beautiful old house, but it sat in a cloud and everything was damp ... and the cook turned out to be a News of the World plant, so there were paparazzi in the garden."

Tom finds the whole incident "funny" now to look back on, but noted that it wasn't a good thing to go through at the time although he is really keen to return to the resort town at some point in the future.

He said: "It's funny now, looking back on it, but it wasn't much fun at the time. Still, I'm desperate to return to Sintra. I love Portugal and its people; I recently stayed in the Bairro Alto Hotel in Lisbon, a mere stroll from Cervejaria Ramiro, which for me is one of the best seafood restaurants in the world."

These days, Tom revealed that his mother and the King - who acceded to the throne in September 2022 following the death of Queen Elizabeth - love to go walking with him, and noted that the 76-year-old monarch is the "most hard-working man" he has ever known.

He said: "My mother loves walking and I love walking, so we just wander off together. She hasn't changed at all over the years: if you give her the sun and a book, she's perfectly happy. The King loves walking too, but he's the most hard-working man I've ever met. I don't think he's the sort of person who can just flop onto a deck chair and disappear into a book."