Queen Camilla’s Nephew Says He Was Bullied & Received 'Death Threats' For Having The Parker Bowles Last Name

Growing up with a family member tied to royalty undeniably comes with some perks, but it also has some downsides — especially if the public wasn’t too fond of that particular figure. And no one understands this more than Queen Camilla’s nephew!

In a new interview with TODAY on Wednesday, Luke Parker Bowles opened up about his life growing up as a child with the last name Parker Bowles amid his aunt’s public tryst with King Charles III in the 1990s. And as you can guess, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses.

As you most likely know, Charles married Camilla in 2005 — but had been in a relationship with her long before then — including during his marriage to the beloved Princess Diana. The public often brutally criticized Camilla for being the other woman, especially after Charles divorced Diana — and even more so when the icon later died in a car crash. And apparently, the hate from the public carried over to her other family members.

When host Jenna Bush Hager said she saw Luke was “sometimes bullied” when he was younger, the 44-year-old film and television producer — who is Queen Camilla’s nephew through her first marriage to Andrew Parker Bowles — told the outlet:

“It was a rough time. It was not a great time to be a Parker Bowles, but it hasn’t scarred me.”

In fact, the bullying was so bad for Luke that he sometimes received “death threats” at school, he recently claimed. He recalled to The New York Times on Sunday:

“I learned to do charity at a very young age. It was instilled in me by my parents and grandparents because they didn’t want me to be part of the chaos of the early days of my aunt and Prince Charles’s relationship. When I was at boarding school, I remember getting bullied and even death threats because people put together that Diana had died because of Camilla, and therefore I had killed Diana by association.”

So messed up. And while it no doubt had been a tough time for him, Luke said that it only fueled him to focus on something more positive such as charity work:

“It was not a happy time, and I wanted to deflect that so I got involved in charities. I remember swimming three hours nonstop (which is bonkers) for charity. I loved it and I loved focusing on what I could do for other people, instead of focusing on getting bullied.”

He added in the interview with Today:

“All of us — my cousins, my brother — we’ve always been involved in charity. It’s much more important to be doing charitable things, not to be ‘holier than thou,’ just because it gives you a focus.”

Luke’s passion for charity has continued into adulthood. After moving from the UK to New Jersey in 2005, when he fell in love with his wife, Daniela, he served as the director for The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden in New York City, a memorial paying tribute to the 67 British citizens who died. He also started and runs CinemaLab, which works to renovate small-town movie theaters into community gathering spaces. The movie buff also organizes the Montclair Film Festival in Montclair, where he currently lives with his family.

And that’s not all. Luke has also worked on films — including classics Love Actually, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and About a Boy. Wow! Beyond that, though, he also acts as an unofficial diplomat for the royals – something he takes immense pride in:

“I do like being an ambassador for her and His Majesty in New York. I am the Parker Bowles who is here.”

It’s amazing how he managed to channel that negative time in his life into doing some good for others, and come out stronger on the other side of it! Reactions to Luke’s story? Let us know in the comments. You can also ch-ch-check out his entire interview with TODAY (below):