Following the dog attack in west London, Tom Parker Bowles, the son of Queen Camilla and the stepson of King Charles, fought to save his Jack Russell named Maud.
Tom Parker Bowles — Queen Camilla’s son and King Charles’ stepson — bravely fought to save his dog after a 10stone mastiff attacked her, he has revealed.
When the large canine spotted Maud, a small Jack Russell, during a walk, the food writer, 50, said “all hell broke loose.” The mastiff slammed into Maud as they left their walker. The mastiff “was screaming with terror within seconds,” Tom said. “My tiny, less-than-one-stone terrier was slammed against me. Then the agonizingly painful cry began. My memory is currently somewhat cloudy.
However, Tom claimed that during the encounter in Kensington, west London earlier this month, “pure instinct took over” and that he “launched myself on to the dog.” If the attacker could raise its head and crush her like a furry Twiglet, the gallant father of two said, “I knew Maud would be finished.” I frantically attempted to break the dog’s jaws, which were entangling her soft, white belly in a vice-like manner.
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Crowds gathered as chaos ensued, and one man reportedly whacked the dog with his walking stick. The mastiff loosened its grip after around 30 seconds, a period which felt like hours to Tom. The food critic, one of two children to Queen Camilla, freed Maud, but she suffered gory injuries.
The pooch, who herself weighs less than one stone, needed two operations though she may bear psychological scars as well as those from her injuries. Tom alerted the police but doesn’t want the dog responsible put down. Writing for the Daily Mail, he said: “I don’t want the dog who attacked Maud put down, nor do I want to press charges. Emergency vet care is not cheap, but I’m lucky that Maud is covered by Petplan – which, so far, has been incredibly efficient. It’s not every day one says that about an insurance company. What I do want, though, is these big, powerful and often beautiful dogs to be muzzled when out in public. Is that too much to ask?
I’m not opposed to knee-jerk laws that ban particular breeds or have them destroyed, as they may be. I’d rather the owner bear the cost.
Earlier this year, police forces said they had recorded an huge spike in the number of dog attacks on people across the UK – and interactive maps showed which areas had seen the most incidents. The largest increase in the number of dog attacks was recorded by Cleveland Police, where they went up by a massive 163% between 2019 and 2024.
Tom’s experience has left the writer fearful of what could happen if large dogs attack a small child, which has been the case in recent years. The Mirror told how one girl — Amelia Bird — had 30 horrific wounds after she was attacked by a pack of dogs belonging to one man in Carrington, Greater Manchester last year.
