With more than 2,000 guests set to take their seats for King Charles’s coronation at Westminster Abbey, Queen Camilla’s ex-husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, is also be attending the ceremony.

The Queen and her former husband still have a close friendship, and he is expected to be “front and centre” among the guests at the ceremony, according to The Telegraph.

Here’s what we know about Andrew Parker Bowles and why he’ll be in attendance

Why is Andrew Parker Bowles attending the coronation?

It’s been widely reported that the Queen and her ex-husband have always been close friends, and that hasn’t changed since the two divorced 28 years ago.

A friend of the Queen’s told The Daily Mail: “They are joined at the hip. He arranges so much for her. They have lunch together the whole time. He’s right in there. He was always, and still is, Camilla’s co-conspirator.”

The ex-husband and wife, who have two children, had a complicated marriage but managed to keep a “really good family ethic”, the friend added.

Who is Andrew Parker Bowles?

Camilla Parker Bowles and Andrew Parker Bowles divorced in 1995 after 22 years of marriage.

Nicknamed “the brigadier”, Mr Parker Bowles, 83, is a retired army officer.

He has always had a place within royal circles and attended the 1953 Coronation as a Page of Honour for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. Mr. Parker Bowles has said that his mother was a close friend of the Duke of Norfolk.

Mr Parker Bowles and Camilla married in 1973. He also had a brief fling with Princess Anne, but it’s reported that his commitment to Catholicism ruled him out as a suitor.

Shortly after their marriage, the couple had two children, Thomas and Laura, in 1974 and 1978.

He married Rosemary Pitman in 1996, the year following the divorce. The couple attended the wedding of Charles and Camilla in 2005.

Ms Pitman died of cancer in 2010, Camilla said she was deeply saddened by the news.

Mr Parker Bowles has been described as “a bit of rogue”.

The Marchioness of Lansdowne, a close friend of the couple told the Telegraph: “Everybody loves Andrew. He’s a real charmer but he’s always terribly misbehaving. Andrew will ring her up and tell her when she’s got something wrong and she’ll ring him up and say when he’s misbehaving.”