Anne Robinson confirms she is in relationship with Queen’s ex-husband, Andrew Parker Bowles

Robinson acknowledged that she had been out of the dating game for some time, noting: “If you don’t drink, you’re not as reckless, are you?”

But she told Saga magazine: “I’m a great believer in surprising yourself by taking risks.

“Personally and professionally. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If the worst that can happen is you get some egg on your face, that’s not terrible is it?”

On why dating can be easier in older age, she added: “You’re much more selective about what you’re going to get into a tizz about. Nothing matters that much. You’re not going to change.”

The pair are thought to have been dating for about 20 months but have gone out of their way to avoid being seen together in public. Not for nothing is Mr Parker Bowles known for his discretion.

Yet their unlikely romance has been an open secret within certain society circles in the Cotswolds, where both maintain their own homes.

The news leaked out in unconfirmed reports last December, although at the time, both remained tight-lipped.

A mutual friend revealed: “They have judiciously avoided being photographed together as they both wanted to keep this quiet for as long as possible.

“Annie proudly tells everyone she is the daughter of a market trader chicken-seller and is as far removed from a toff as could be. Frankly, it beats any storyline The Crown could possibly come up with.”

The source told The Sun that she remained “fiercely independent and self-sufficient”, adding that there was “no chance” of the pair cohabiting.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, perhaps the couple might be more amenable to being photographed together at their favoured racetracks and restaurants.

They are understood to have met at a lunch Robinson hosted for her brother, Peter, and his old school friends in around September 2022.

Their unlikely matchmaker is said to have been one of her neighbours, Father Felix Stevens, a retired monk, who attended Ampleforth, the North Yorkshire boarding school, with Robinson’s brother and suggested she include fellow alumni Parker Bowles on the guest list.

Since then, the duo have conducted their fledgling romance behind closed doors, shuttling back and forth between each other’s homes some 30 miles apart and venturing out together only to attend private dinner parties with friends, Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, among them.

The Queen is said to have been initially amused by the pairing but also supportive.

On the surface, they appear an unlikely match: she the Lancashire-born daughter of a market trader known for her icy put-downs and he, the aristocratic cavalry officer and father of the Queen’s two children.

Mr Parker Bowles became so well known for his philandering that Dame Jilly Cooper, an old friend of the Queen, said that he was one of the inspirations for her fictional seducer Rupert Campbell-Black, in the Rutshire Chronicles.

But the couple have much in common. Both have been married twice and have much-cherished children and grandchildren. Both love the countryside, hunting and racing.