Wrexham striker Ollie Palmer relives ‘really f*cking hard’ childhood memories of parents separating & his former royal protection officer father coming out as gay

Palmer’s father, Andy, spent 25 years working as a protection officer for the Royal Family – with 10 of those seeing him provide personal protection for King Charles III during his time as the Prince of Wales. Palmer senior was “very happily married” to wife Sue for many years, but left home when his son Ollie was still young.

Relieving that era of their respective lives in the Welcome to Wrexham documentary, Sue Palmer said: “I thought we had a great marriage. We had three wonderful children and I was very confident about the future. But then Andy left. I was devastated. It blew my world apart.”

Andy added on the pain that he experienced during a testing period for all concerned: “It took a long time. It wasn't an overnight decision. It was months and months of deciding what route do I take. It was a very difficult time for me personally. How do I go about telling my three children, who I love to bits, that daddy isn't going to be around anymore?”

Ollie, who joined Wrexham in January 2022, said of his emotions at a “really f*cking hard” time for him: “That's what I really remember. Just sitting in the study and hearing them all arguing in the dining room. And then we were all crying.”

Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney said in support of a popular figure at SToK Racecourse: “I'm in the same position as Ollie. My parents got divorced when I was eight or nine. And as adults we can both look back on our parents and recognise how much courage that it took for them to do exactly what they did.”

Palmer has registered 37 goals for Wrexham through 92 appearances, with his efforts alongside fellow striker Paul Mullin helping the Red Dragons to promotion last season and up to third place in the League Two table this term.