Despite being the son of Queen Camilla and stepson of King Charles, Tom Parker Bowles has largely stayed away from the royal scene. In fact, the accomplished food writer, who recently released a royal-themed cookbook, Cooking & The Crown, revealed in a new interview that he has only met Queen Elizabeth II twice in his life, and one of those times was quite a shock.

Parker Bowles, 49, and his sister Laura Lopez, 46, grew up outside the palace world. But even after his mother married King Charles (then Prince Charles), Tom had little to do with the royal family. In fact, he recently told People magazine that he had never been to a royal Christmas celebration.

“When I was eight years old, I was so scared that I bowed more than I bowed,” he said of the first time he met Queen Elizabeth. A few years later, in 2005, Camilla married Charles, and Tom had an unexpected meeting with the Queen.

Parker Bowles explained that he “slipped out” to smoke a cigarette with his sister and got lost, and “all of a sudden I heard, ‘Are you okay?’ I heard a voice saying, 'Are you okay? It was none other than Queen.

“Obviously she was charming and nice and the most famous person in the world, the Queen. We just followed her down the hall with her dog like two rather frightened but awe-struck puppies,” he added.

As for “Cooking & the Crown,” which details recipes dating back to Queen Victoria's time, Parker Bowles says he is careful not to be seen as a nepotistic baby (or, in his words, “nepotistic middle-aged”).

“For 25 years, I've kept completely away from the royal family,” he told The Independent when asked about using his connections in his career as a food critic. If I had said right away, 'Yes, I'm doing a cookbook on the royal family,' they would have probably thought I was nepotistic middle-aged, although I'm not a baby anymore,” he quipped.

Tom continued, “I've been writing about cooking for 25 years, a quarter of a century, and I've produced enough to be interesting enough.”

He included some of his mother's and royal stepfather's favorite recipes in the book, but said the author was always conscious of “not stepping into privacy.”

However, Tom said that after Queen Elizabeth's death, the project became “more accessible.” Somehow we have a feeling that the Queen would have been pleased with the outcome.