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 recusant s , 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 : 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 .