INTERVIEW

Anne Robinson confirms for the first time that she is indeed dating Queen Camilla’s ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles and explains why she’s looking forward to being Saga Magazine’s new agony aunt

by COLE MORETON

photography ALUN CALLENDER styling MARTHA WARD

Is she really going out with him? Anne Robinson fixes me with the kind of stare that used to make contestants feel they really were ‘The Weakest Link’. There’s a long silence while she thinks, then finally an answer. ‘Yes. Full stop. Mind your own business.’

So, there it is, official confirmation for the first time anywhere that the ‘Queen of Mean’ is dating the actual Queen’s former husband. Andrew Parker Bowles and Anne Robinson both live in the Cotswolds and met at a lunch with friends more than a year ago, but somehow managed to keep their romance secret before and after Camilla was crowned.

The couple have never been photographed together and neither has said a word about the relationship publicly until now, not least because Andrew is still close to Her Majesty. Anne admits she was cautious about getting involved with anyone again after the end of her second marriage, to the journalist John Penrose, in 2007. ‘I feel it took me a long time to do that, actually,’ she says. ‘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’ve only just thought of that, but I think it’s probably true.’

She is joining Saga as our new agony aunt, so what would Anne say about getting out there again romantically at the age of 79? ‘I’d say that like everything else I’ve done, it’s always worth the risk. 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?’