Queen Camilla has emerged as an unlikely fan of the Disney+ steamy series Rivals, despite its lothario main character being based on her ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles.
The 77-year-old monarch received an advance copy of the racy eight-part series before it was available to the public, according to The Times.
“I am told that [the Queen] adored Rivals, the racy television adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel,” wrote Assistant Editor Kate Mansey.
The show features Alex Hassell as polo-loving lothario Rupert Campbell-Black, a character that author Jilly Cooper has confirmed was inspired by Parker Bowles.
Queen Camilla ‘adored racy TV series’ inspired by her ex-husband
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Within the first nine seconds, viewers witness Campbell-Black’s naked posterior as he joins the Mile High Club in a Concorde bathroom.
Cooper openly acknowledged her inspiration for the character in a recent appearance on the How To Fail podcast.
“He’s been a great friend for a long time… so he’s very like Rupert. He’s beautiful and blond and stunning,” Cooper said of Parker Bowles.
In her 1988 novel, Campbell-Black is described as “well-constructed” with “broad flat shoulders” and “lean muscular hips and powerful thighs.”
The cast of Rivals at a special screening of the new series
PA
The writer maintains she only drew from her high-society friend’s “charm and glamour,” insisting the character’s “naughty behaviour” was not based on him.
Parker Bowles has garnered a reputation in the past for being a “ladies’ man”.
The Marchioness of Lansdowne, one of Camilla’s Queen’s Companions, said of Parker Bowles: “Everybody loves Andrew. He’s a real charmer but he’s always terribly misbehaving.”
Around half a million viewers tuned in to watch Rivals, set in the cut-throat world of 1986 television.
The series follows the tense rivalry between Campbell-Black and Lord Tony Baddingham, played by David Tennant.
The show’s steamy scenes have captivated audiences, including a fully nude tennis match featuring Campbell-Black and Sarah Stratton, played by Emily Atack.
Viewers took to social media to praise the series, with one declaring: “THE NAKED TENNIS SCENE!”
Another commented that they were hooked from “the moment RCB walks out the lavatory on the Concorde and struts down the aisle to the sound of ‘Addicted to Love’.”
The Disney+ adaptation has proven highly binge-worthy, with one viewer noting: “I don’t normally binge-watch, but I just finished Rivals. It’s SO good and I want more.”
Despite their divorce in 1995, Queen Camilla and Parker Bowles maintain a close friendship, having parented two children, Tom Parker Bowles, 49, and Laura Lopes, 46.
“They are joined at the hip,” according to a friend. “He arranges so much for her. They have lunch together the whole time.”
Parker Bowles even received a special invitation to King Charles’s Coronation. Now 84, Parker Bowles is currently dating TV presenter Anne Robinson.
