King Charles’ longtime friend Ian Farquhar, renowned huntsman, passed away at home at the age of 78.

He was also the Queen Mother’s equerry and even served in the Queen’s Own Hussars, a cavalry regiment of the British Army.

The King, who is already dealing with his own cancer diagnosis, suffers yet another blow. At the age of 87, Lord (Jacob) Rothschild passed away recently.

Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles, first husband and friend of queen Camilla, told the Mail’s Richard Eden that the situation was ‘very sad’ and that Farquhar had been in poor health for the past few months.

He described his friend as ‘wild as a hawk in his youth, but always great fun’. Parker Bowles added that ‘The Captain’, as Farquhar was known, will be ‘judged by history as one of the great Masters of Hounds’.

Farquhar and Charles became intertwined further when Prince William briefly dated Rose Farquhar in 2000 after he finished his A-levels at Eton.

The two met at the Beaufort Polo Club in Gloucestershire and at the time she was described as the Prince of Wales’s ‘first love’. William and Rose would go on romantic picnics in the Gloucestershire countryside together before he met Kate at St. Andrews University in Scotland. They are still friends to this day, as the Prince attended her wedding to George Gemmell in 2022.

Mr Farquhar was also Master of the Beaufort Hunt for 34 years. It is the West Country’s oldest and largest fox hunt.

In an Instagram post, a page shared a video containing multiple images of Ian throughout his life and wrote: ‘It is with broken hearts we send our love and condolences to the family and friends of our own Captain Ian Farquhar, who so brilliantly piloted us for 34 years and passed away peacefully this week.

”Captain’ as he was known by many was loved and cherished by the entire hunting community, as someone who was supportive, kind and always there with excellent forward thinking advice for anyone who asked him.

‘He had a wicked sense of humour and anyone who was lucky enough to be in his company and listen to tales of his extremely varied and adventurous life both in the army and the hunting world will hold onto those memories forever.’

The post said that Mr Farquhar’s passions in life were his ‘hounds, his family and dogs’ and that he was a ‘true countryman and gent’.