Twenty years ago, a wedding consolidated the bond between the Parker Bowles family and the British royal family. Far from Windsor, and just one year after the marriage of Charles and Camilla, Laura Parker Bowles married Harry Lopes at St Cyriac’s Church in the village of Lacock, Wiltshire — with Prince Harry, Prince William, and Kate Middleton in attendance.
On May 6, 2006, Laura married Lopes, a former Calvin Klein model who’s now a chartered accountant. Laura is the youngest child of Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles. Alongside her brother Tom, the pair grew up in a privileged family, spending their youth between Bolehyde Manor and Middlewick House, two residences in Wiltshire.
Laura was educated at St Mary’s Shaftesbury, a Catholic girls’ boarding school, before completing her schooling at Heywood Preparatory School. She went on to study Art History and Marketing at Oxford Brookes University. While Laura grew up immersed in British high society, it wasn’t until her mother married the future King of England that she became formally bound to the royal family.
© Getty ImagesThe debut of a young Kate Middleton
One of the standout moments of Laura’s wedding ceremony was Kate Middleton’s appearance, considered by many as one of her earliest public appearances alongside Prince William. According to royal watchers, it marked one of the first times Kate spent time with the royal family in a public setting. Wedding photographers captured her wearing a cream colored suit dress that was discreet and elegant, two hallmarks of her approach to fashion.
© Getty ImagesHer appearance was characteristically low-key, with there being few images of her and Prince William together. It was years later, in November 2010, that Kate became a prominent figure for the royal family, after William proposed to her with a blue sapphire engagement ring once owned by Princess Diana. The pair got married the following year.
Where is Laura Parker Bowles family now?
Laura and Tom have embraced a discreet lifestyle ever since their mother became a permanent fixture of the royal family. Laura has developed a career in the arts, co-founding London’s Eleven gallery and later co-owning the fashion boutique Mojo & McCoy in Hungerford.
She is the mother of three kids: Eliza, and twins Gus and Louis. Eliza went on to serve as a bridesmaid at William and Kate’s wedding in 2011, a quiet confirmation that, while the family relationship isn’t loudly public, the bond exists.
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