Mother-of-three Rosemary Parker Bowles of Brokenborough died at the age of 68 on January 10 after a four-year battle with cancer.

She was the second wife of Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles, whose first wife was Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

Mrs Parker-Bowles was born in Northumberland but spent 30 years living around Malmesbury.

Her father Roy Dickinson was not only a businessman and lawyer, but also competed in the high jump at the 1924 Olympics, the same Olympics celebrated in the film Chariots of Fire.

After attending boarding school in Sussex, Mrs Parker Bowles worked in London before getting married in 1961 at the age of 21 to Hugh Pitman who went on to become a Lieutenant Colonel in what is now known as the Blues and Royals.

Splitting time between Germany and England as her husband moved around with the Army, she brought up three sons Henry, William and Tom.

The couple settled in Foxley near Malmesbury in the mid-1970s but later divorced and, after a short time alone, she married Mr Parker Bowles in 1996 whom she had known for many years as he was an officer in the same regiment as her first husband.

Mr and Mrs Parker Bowles lived in Brokenborough and Mrs Parker Bowles’ son Henry, 47, who lives near Cirencester, said that his mother had made Wiltshire her home.

He said: “She always loved this part of the world and thought of it as home.

“Brokenborough is a small village and she enjoyed her time there very much. She was very involved in village life and her great passion was gardening.

He added: “She was a qualified garden designer and worked professionally. She always had a real passion for it ever since I can remember.

“I think she would have been very proud of the gardens she had designed, both at her own homes and at other people’s.

“That will be her legacy.”

He added that his mother was pleased to have lived to see her step grandchildren, twin boys born to Laura, the daughter of Andrew and Camilla, on New Year’s Eve.

He said: “She was a wonderful woman and will be sadly missed.

“She had a long illness but she dealt with it bravely and was happy to see her new step grandchildren.”

Mrs Parker Bowles is survived by her husband, sons Henry, 47, William, 44 and Tom 40, nine grandchildren, two step children, Tom and Laura, and four step grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held in London in March.