Queen Camilla joins William at memorial service for King’s pal

Queen Camilla today joined 500 mourners at a memorial service for her friend Ian Farquhar, after the renowned horseman and legendary hunting figure died aged 78.

Captain Farquhar’s daughter Rose, whom Prince William dated in 2000, was also at the service in Badminton, Gloucestershire, with her husband George Gemmell.

William and his ‘first love’ Rose remain friends, and he attended her wedding to former professional polo player Mr Gemmell in nearby Tetbury in December 2022.

Captain Farquhar, who was also close friends with King Charles III, previously lived on the monarch’s Highgrove estate in the county where he rented a farmhouse.

The Old Etonian was found dead at his home near Chippenham in Wiltshire by his carer on the afternoon of March 6 after struggling to breathe, an inquest later heard.

This afternoon, Camilla attended the service to remember him at St Michael and All Angels’ Church on the Badminton estate which is owned by the Duke of Beaufort.

Other mourners included Queen Camilla’s ex-husband, Andrew Parker Bowles. He was not accompanied by new love Anne Robinson. 

The Queen, who was also representing the King, arrived in a green-grey Audi estate car ahead of the service which was officiated by the Reverend Richard Thomson.

Camilla’s first husband Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles previously revealed to the Daily Mail that Mr Farquhar had been in poor health for some months and described his death as ‘very sad’.

Speaking to the Mail’s diary editor Richard Eden at the time, Parker Bowles described his friend as ‘wild as a hawk in his youth, but always great fun’.

He also said that Mr Farquhar would be ‘judged by history as one of the great Master of Hounds’, having been Master of the Beaufort Hunt for 34 years.

Parker Bowles also described him as ‘a real countryman, a very good officer, a brave amateur rider, a hard-riding polo player and an excellent public speaker’.

Captain Farquhar was born in Dorset in 1945 to a hunting family and educated at the exclusive Ludgrove School near Wokingham as well as at Eton.

He then enrolled at Sandhurst for officer training and in 1966 was commissioned into the Queen’s Own Hussars, where he served as a cavalry officer.

Captain Farquhar, who was known as ‘The Captain’, became an equerry to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 1971 and held the post for two years.

He left the Army in 1973 to become Master of the Bicester and Warden Hill Hunt, hunting their hounds for 12 seasons.

Captain Farquhar married Pammie-Jane Chafer, with whom he had three daughters – including Rose. The couple then separated, but in later years rekindled their friendship. 

In 1985, he was invited to become joint-master and huntsman of the Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt, hunting until 2010.

Captain Farquhar was a renowned breeder of foxhounds, a vice-chairman of the Masters of Foxhounds Association and was a known supporter of the Countryside Alliance.

An inquest at Salisbury on March 20 was told a post-mortem examination had showed Captain Farquhar died from postural asphyxia. 

This is when the way the person is positioned prevents them from breathing properly.

People may die from this accidentally, when the mouth and nose are blocked, or where the chest may be unable to fully expand.

Wiltshire Police confirmed there were ‘no suspicious circumstances’ relating to his death.

William briefly dated Rose in 2000 after he finished his A-levels at Eton. The pair met at the Beaufort Polo Club and she was described as William’s ‘first love’ at the time. 

The prince and Rose would go on romantic picnics in the Gloucestershire countryside, but their relationship was brief and he then met Kate at St Andrew’s University.

Now in her40s, the singer-songwriter Rose is generally considered the Prince’s first serious girlfriend. 

Despite their romance faltering, Rose and William have always stayed on good terms and have often seen each other at society weddings over the years due to their mutual friends.

In 2022, William attended Rose’s wedding to George Gemmel – the stepson of Barbadian building tycoon Sir Charles Williams and an aspiring vet.

After dating William, Rose headed to New York where she studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute.

She appeared on The Voice in the UK in 2016 singing for Boy George and will.iam, and participated in the reality show ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?’ in 2006, which searched for an actress to play Maria Von Trapp on the West End’s production of The Sound of Music.

Following the programme, she went on to receive a BBC Fame Academy Award to study Musical Theatre and Acting in New York City.

She now works for the Duchess of Rutland’s Belvoir Castle in a business development role since December 2022. 

Still in society circles, she attended the wedding of William and Kate in 2011, but also that of Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan in 2018. 

When the singer tied the knot last December, Prince William was amongst the guests toasting to the happy couple’s nuptials.

He slipped in discreetly through the back door of St Mary the Virgin church in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, to witness her wed her new prince charming: aspiring vet George Gemmell, the stepson of late Barbadian building tycoon Sir Charles Williams.

At the time, her father told DailyMail of her daughter’s groom-to-be: ‘He could not be a more charming son-in-law for the future.

‘The Gemmells have been friends of ours for years. We’re absolutely delighted.’