TV presenter Anne Robinson has confirmed her relationship with the Queen’s ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles, saying ‘Yes’ but adding: ‘Mind your own business.’
Unconfirmed reports at the end of last year suggested the former Weakest Link host, 79, and the retired cavalry officer, 84, were dating.
Now Robinson has confirmed they are, telling Saga magazine: ‘Yes. Full stop. Mind your own business.’
The interview comes as Robinson is announced as the publication’s new agony aunt, a role she will take on from their June issue.
Speaking about returning to the dating pool in her seventies, after being single for more than a decade, she told Saga: ‘I’d been out of the game for so long. And also I don’t drink. If you don’t drink, you’re not as reckless are you?
‘I’m a great believer in surprising yourself by taking risks. Personally and professionally. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If the worst that can happen is you get some egg on your face, that’s not terrible is it?’
Anne became known as the ‘Queen of Mean’ for her cutting comments to contestants and her catchphrase ‘you are the weakest link, goodbye’ when she presented the quiz show, which was first broadcast in 2000 before ending 12 years later.
On why dating can be easier in older age, she said: ‘You’re much more selective about what you’re going to get into a tizz about. Nothing matters that much. You’re not going to change.’
How long have Anne Robinson and Andrew Parker-Bowles been in a relationship?
In December a source claimed Anne and Andrew had been secretly together for eight months, wanting to keep the relationship quiet for as long as possible.
Speaking to HELLO!, a source said: ‘They’ve been having an affair for about eight months. It’s an extraordinary match as they’re from very different backgrounds, and Anne has a reputation for being quite bossy.
The Brigadier goes down to spend the night at her place and although their friends have known about their relationship, they’ve all managed to keep it out of the public eye – until now.’
A source initially told The Sun of the pair’s alleged romance: ‘They have judiciously avoided being photographed together as they both wanted to keep this quiet for as long as possible.
‘Annie proudly tells everyone she is the daughter of a market trader chicken-seller and is as far removed from a toff as could be- frankly it beats any storyline The Crown could possibly come up with.
‘Annie and Andrew get on splendidly – she makes him laugh, a lot, and he is one of the few people to get away with poking fun at her.’
The publication then explained how the source claimed Anne loves to joke she is ‘new money’ – despite going to boarding school and living a seemingly luxurious lifestyle growing up, holidaying in Cannes.
Andrew was said to be Anne’s plus one at her dinner parties – attended by the likes of David Cameron, according to the outlet – in her 17th-century Cotswolds home.
Anne previously hosted Channel 4 quiz show Countdown, becoming its sixth presenter and the first female to take the role, before stepping down in 2022 having recorded 265 episodes of the show.
She was previously married to the late Charles Wilson, a former journalist and newspaper executive, until 1973 and got from divorced her second husband, John Penrose, in 2007.
When was Queen Camilla married to Andrew Parker-Bowles?
Andrew married Camilla in 1973 and they had two children together, Tom and Laura, before divorcing in 1995. He later married Rosemary Pitman, who died of cancer in 2010.
King Charles, who was divorced from Diana, Princess of Wales in 1996, wed Camilla in April 2005 at the Guildhall in Windsor.
The Queen and Andrew have remained friends, with the former army officer among the select guest list for the King’s coronation.
Author Jilly Cooper’s fictional character of Rupert Campbell-Black in books Rivals and Riders is said to be inspired by a composite of Andrew and various other aristocrats.
The interview is in June’s issue of Saga magazine.
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