Luke Parker Bowles, the Queen Consort’s Nephew, on Life in New Jersey

Last month in New York City, the outpouring of grief over Queen Elizabeth II’s death mostly happened in a handful of English specialty shops and inside many, many apartments. But there was at least one public memorial service, which took place at the Queen Elizabeth II Garden in Lower Manhattan.

“Long live the king,” proclaimed Luke Parker Bowles, a film and television producer and one of a few individuals who helped create the garden in 2005 to honor members of Commonwealth nations who died on Sept. 11.

As a New Jersey resident and the nephew of Camilla Parker Bowles, Mr. Parker Bowles suddenly finds himself a diplomat, of sorts, for the crown in the metropolitan area. “I do like being an ambassador for her and His Majesty in New York,” he said. “I am the Parker Bowles who is here.”

Besides his day job — he works with the British Consulate to promote British talent and owns a film-production company, Odd Sausage — he and Patrick Wilson, the actor, started and now help to run Cinema Lab, an initiative that rescues struggling small-town movie theaters and turns them into sophisticated venues for eating, drinking and taking in the latest blockbuster. The group currently owns five theaters, including several in New Jersey and one in New Canaan, Conn. “These theaters are metaphorically and literally the heart beats of certain towns,” Mr. Parker Bowles said.

Mr. Parker Bowles, 44, lives with his wife Daniela Parker Bowles, 47, and their three children in Montclair, where he helps oversee the town’s film festival, scheduled this year for Oct. 21-30.

Ahead of the Montclair Film Festival, Mr. Parker Bowles spoke with The New York Times about his work and mission. The following interview has been edited and condensed.

What inspired you to move to New York?

I was visiting New York City from London for a long weekend with two friends. We went to this club named Spa that was located right next to Union Square. That night P. Diddy jumped onstage and started playing this impromptu performance. I thought this is just how New York is and this happens every night.

My wife and her two friends had a booth and we were across the dance floor in our booth. The cocktails must have been good, because us Brits are not that confident, but I made an approach. We dated long distance for three years until I packed up and moved here.

Why the move to New Jersey?

I lived in Williamsburg for years, where Patrick Wilson, now my business partner, was my neighbor. He disappeared and one day I bumped into him again, and I asked him where he had been. He said, “I moved to the most amazing town, Montclair.” I’m not a stalker, I don’t just follow him around, but I went to visit and I bought a house.

I call Montclair Narnia because people’s perception of New Jersey is of highways and byways. But if you turn off the highway and go up this hill into Montclair, there are trees and flowers and yards and people are nice to each other. It’s like a slice of heaven. And I have three children so I needed some space.

What English habits do you still have? How do you incorporate them into your New Jersey lifestyle?

I am not a great cook but on Sundays I make my family something called bacon butties, which is bacon between two pieces of white bread with butter. In America you like your bacon burned to a crisp, but we like streaky bacon in England.

We also go to the Pie Store every Sunday, which is owned by my friend Sam who is a Brit. We buy pies to eat during the week, but we also get this English candy that my kids love. Their favorite is Cadbury chocolate buttons.

My son and I are also football-obsessive and very very big supporters of Tottenham Hotspur, a team that is much reviled, but that makes us love them even more. We watch every game.

You still come to New York City about once a week. What are your favorite spots?

There is this amazing Philly cheesesteak place in the West Village called Wogies. Whenever I am in town I try to stop by. I am also a vodka martini freak, so I would say Cafe Luxembourg on the Upper West Side. I would fight anyone who suggested there is a better-made vodka martini in New York City. The bartender there taught me the reason James Bond always drinks his martini shaken and not stirred. If you stir a martini you are combining the alcohol and bringing it to the top so it’s stronger. If you shake it you are weakening it, because when you pour it the ice comes out last and there is a layer of water on top.

What are you looking forward to seeing at the Montclair Film Festival?

“She Said.” I’ve read the book, and I am so fascinated to see the movie. My favorite thing every year is also to watch the shorts and hear the voices of new filmmakers. A lot of the people now making big films made a short film a few years ago, and you get to follow and back their careers.

Does the Queen Elizabeth II Garden in Hanover Square have even more significance after the queen’s passing?

I am one of a few people who put together the garden. After Sept. 11 happened there wasn’t a space for Commonwealth victims to reflect. As an example, the Australian Consulate had an office and that is where people went. It seemed very clear that we needed to do something, and with the help of Mayor Bloomberg, we managed to get that space in Hanover Square and develop it into what it is now. It feels like the most British place in New York City.

I am incredibly proud of it. It feels cleansing to be there. Now when I am there I remember how wonderful the queen was. I pinch myself and say, “That woman was not human.”

How has your life changed now that your aunt is queen consort of England?

This may be a cynical response, but a lot of people who couldn’t care less about me or didn’t have relationships with me have suddenly come out of the woodwork, which I don’t particularly like.

You talk a lot about your responsibility for helping others and serving people. Can you tell us more about why that is so important to you?

I believe if I have this name, I don’t want to use it to go to cocktail parties or hang out with Upper East Side socialites. That is the antithesis of what my responsibility is.

I learned to do charity at a very young age. It was distilled in me by my parents and grandparents because they didn’t want me to be part of the chaos of the early days of my aunt and Prince Charles’s relationship. When I was at boarding school I remember getting bullied and even death threats because people put together that Diana had died because of Camilla, and therefore I had killed Diana by association.

It was not a happy time, and I wanted to deflect that so I got involved in charities. I remember swimming three hours nonstop (which is bonkers) for charity. I loved it and I loved focusing on what I could do for other people, instead of focusing on getting bullied.

You spend most of your time working on Cinema Lab. Why are movie theaters so important?

Movie theaters are equivalent to the vibe of an English pub where everyone can meet and get together. In New Canaan, for example, the playhouse was not just a beautiful iconic building; it was also where all the kids used to hang out, and the parents would know they were safe. The same thing happened in towns in England when I was growing up. My teenage daughter now hangs out in the CVS parking lot, and I think it’s because the lights of these town high streets have gone out, and we need to bring them back.

I do not exaggerate when I say we have been approached by over 100 movie theaters across the country who want our help in saving them. We need to turn them into places where people of all ages can gather and socialize and work and be together.