Hello, fellow royal fans, are you aware that Prince Harry and Prince William have a rarely mentioned and almost entirely under-the-radar sister named Laura Lopes? 'Kay, fine, she’s technically their stepsister, but still, I am in a state of absolute shock that’s best illustrated as multiple exclamation marks (!!!!!!) over this information.

Truly, just when you think you know alarming amounts of unnecessary info about the royals, their collection of corgis, and all their cross-continental drama, a random sibling pops up who warrants a deep dive. No wonder The Crown came out with so many seasons—there are simply endless amounts to unpack with this family, their heirs, their spares, their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren, and now their stepchildren. Which brings us back to Laura. WHOMST is she?

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She’s the Daughter of Queen Camilla, That’s Whomst!

Before she got together with King Charles, Camilla was married to Andrew Parker Bowles, aka this trotting thirst trap:

british army officer andrew parker bowles playing polo in kenya, 1971 photo by anwar husseingetty images
Anwar Hussein//Getty Images

Camilla and Andrew had two kids, Tom Parker Bowles and art curator Laura Lopes. Here’s a pic of the whole happy super-tense family at Charles and Camilla’s wedding:

the prince of wales and his new bride camilla, duchess of cornwall, with their children l r prince harry, prince william, laura parker bowles and tom parker bowles, in the white drawing room at windsor castle saturday april 9 2005, after their wedding ceremony photo by anwar hussein collectionrotawireimage
Anwar Hussein Collection/ROTA//Getty Images

She Used to Get Into “Terrible Fights” With William

According to royal reporter Katie Nicholl’s 2010 book Harry and William, William and Laura did NOT get along back in the day:

“William and Laura used to have terrible fights over who was to blame for their broken homes. William would blame Camilla for all the hurt she had caused his mother, which would send Laura into a rage. Laura was not having any of it. She would take a hard line and fire back at William, ‘Your father has ruined my life.’”

Uhm. Moving on!

She Married a Casual Astor

Laura married *checks notes* former Calvin Klein model Harry Lopes back in 2006, and while his technical job title is now “accountant,” he’s best described as a Very Fancy Person. Not only is Harry Lopes the grandson of a baron, but he’s also related to the famously wealthy Astor family.

harry lopes and laura parker bowles during laura parker bowles and harry lopes – wedding at st cyriacs church in lacock, great britain photo by tomos brangwynwireimage
Tomos Brangwyn//Getty Images

Laura’s Daughter Was in William and Kate’s Wedding

Laura actually has three kids (a girl and twin boys), but her daughter, Eliza, got to be a bridesmaid at William and Kate’s royal wedding. Here she is holding hands with Pippa Middleton:

london, england   april 29  sister of the bride and maid of honour pippa middleton holds hands with grace van cutsem and eliza lopes as they arrive to attend the royal wedding of prince william to catherine middleton at westminster abbey on april 29, 2011 in london, england the marriage of the second in line to the british throne is to be led by the archbishop of canterbury and will be attended by 1900 guests, including foreign royal family members and heads of state thousands of well wishers from around the world have also flocked to london to witness the spectacle and pageantry of the royal wedding  photo by pascal le segretaingetty images
Pascal Le Segretain//Getty Images

And here she is dangling from Prince Charles’s arms atop a balcony:

london, england   april 29  l r michael middleton, carole middleton, prince charles, prince of wales holding bridesmaid eliza lopes and the camilla, duchess of cornwall on the balcony at buckingham palace after the royal wedding of prince william to catherine middleton on april 29, 2011 in london, england the marriage of the second in line to the british throne was led by the archbishop of canterbury and was attended by 1900 guests, including foreign royal family members and heads of state thousands of well wishers from around the world have also flocked to london to witness the spectacle and pageantry of the royal wedding photo by john stillwell wpa poolgetty images
WPA Pool//Getty Images

She Might Get a Title Now That Charles Is King

According to The Express back in 2019, Charles was alleged to potentially “bestow royal titles upon his stepchildren” when he ascended to the throne—meaning, Laura could have had the chance to become a duchess or a countess or a [insert fancy name here] once Charles became king. How-ev-er!! As far as we know, that hasn't happened thus far, but ya never know! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Camilla Subtly Gives Laura Shout-Outs

Queen Camilla has made it clear that she’s a big part of her life by specifically including photos of Laura behind her during Zoom interviews. See that pic on the right? That would be a never-before-seen portrait from Laura’s wedding.

duchess camilla instagram
Instagram

She Pops Up on the Occasional Carpet

Due to being prominent in London’s ~art gallery scene~, Laura shows up at the occasional fancy event. Here she is at the premiere of Skyfall in 2012!

london, england   october 23  embargoed for publication in uk tabloid newspapers until 48 hours after create date and time mandatory credit photo by dave m benettgetty images required  l to r mark shand, laura lopes, ayesha shand and harry lopes attend an after party for the royal world premiere of skyfall at the tate modern on october 23, 2012 in london, england  photo by dave m benettwireimage
Dave M. Benett//Getty Images

And here she is at Charles and Camilla's coronation in 2023:

britain royals coronation
ODD ANDERSEN//Getty Images
britain royals coronation
AARON CHOWN//Getty Images

She and Tom Seem *Kinda* Salty

At least, based on a 2019 interview Tom gave with Good Morning Britain, in which he said they’re “not quite part of the royal family, to be honest” and added, “My mother married into it. She’s part of it. We’re the common children. We’re just on the side.” I mean...that's technically not the case anymore since Charles is now king, but still. Def makes ya wonder what the whole fam dynamic is like. 👀

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