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As Camilla Parker Bowles unfurls her wedding hosiery this Saturday, she's bound to think back to her old life, the life she was bred for: children, horses, dogs and arranging the church flowers on the second Friday in every month. She will remember, as she submits to her bridal manicure, how things like nail varnish barely figured in the old days. Nail varnish was what you used for stopping ladders in your tights. A bottle of Revlon kept in the downstairs loo, next to the Baby Bio, could save you a trip into Chippenham. For the old Camilla, a manicure...

I love Prince Charles. My wife hates him, which is why I’m expressing my point of view while she is out taking my daughter to Karate lessons and I am suppose to be mowing the lawn. I suppose Charles has not mowed any lawns of late, and I hold no grudge for that. Personally, I love mowing and gardening (I’ve heard tell the Prince also loves to get into the garden), but this was my chance to take a peek at some of the CNN coverage of the wedding. I think I should get right to the point, for those...

Apr 9, 9:54 AM (ET) By CATHERINE McALOON (AP) Britain's Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and his new bride Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall,... WINDSOR, England (AP) - Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles were married Saturday in a modest civil ceremony at the 17th century Guildhall, and the second marriage for each was blessed by the Church of England as the royals knelt before Archbishop of Canterbury in a majestic ceremony in the soaring, gothic St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The wedding capped a decades-long love affair that lasted through the prince's first marriage to Princess Diana. The...

For a knot-tying no-one seems to care much about, a remarkably large number of people keep asking me what my view of the Charles-Camilla nuptials is. Well, I wish the happy couple well, and I suppose it's for the best that he's making an honest woman of her. I'm not sure we're ready for a King with a "partner". Few of us would hold it against the Prince that his "fairy-tale marriage" didn't work out, were it not for the fact that he, unlike his bride and the rest of us, knew it wasn't a fairy-tale on the wedding day itself, and...

Because they're stuffy Royal types, there's a short list of things you should not say at the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles if you plan to crash the party. "The Queen isn't here? Is it her bowling night?" "A civil ceremony? Great, I blew off The Apprentice for this?" "I never would've suspected Gary Coleman would be best man." "At least nobody here had to get off work today, ha-ha-ha-ha."` "After the civil ceremony there's a "dedication service"? Forget that crap, when do we eat?" "I give the marriage 6 months." "She's got a lot of nerve,...

Staff at Windsor Castle have spoken of their frustration over "shambolic" preparations for Prince Charles's wedding. As recently as Monday many at Windsor were convinced that the wedding was going to be relocated to Balmoral to avoid further intrusive coverage. But they have been thrown into "utter confusion" by the rescheduling at such short notice - confusion which has grown greater every day this week amid a flurry of conflicting instructions from Clarence House. One senior member of Windsor's administrative staff said today: "You would expect a royal reception to run like clockwork - but this one is likely to...

The Queen has let it be known that the reason she will not be attending the wedding of the Prince of Wales is because she is putting her duties as the head of the Church of England before family feelings. Heads together: the Queen takes her religious role very seriously She has told a friend that she feels it incompatible with her role as Supreme Governor of the Church to attend a civil marriage ceremony, particularly one involving the heir to the throne. She does not want to set a precedent that could damage the Church of England. "I am...

LONDON - The wedding of Britain's Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles, already hit by several glitches, will go ahead on Friday even if it clashes with the funeral of Pope John Paul, a spokeswoman said on Sunday. Clarence House said the date of April 8 had been set for some time and they had not considered postponing the wedding. "If the funeral falls on Friday, the wedding will still go ahead," a spokeswoman said of the heir-to-the-throne's plans. The pope's funeral was expected to be held between Wednesday and Friday. Buckingham Palace said they had not decided yet which...

LONDON (Reuters) - The wedding of Britain's Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles will go ahead Friday even if it clashes with the funeral of Pope John Paul, a spokeswoman for Clarence House said Sunday. "If the funeral falls Friday, the wedding will still go ahead," a spokeswoman said. The Pope's funeral was expected to be held between Wednesday and Friday.

CAMILLA Parker Bowles will be given the title Princess of Wales when she marries Prince Charles on Friday, the government will announce tomorrow. The title will be confirmed in a parliamentary statement in response to a question from Andrew Mackinlay, a Labour MP. It is likely to anger supporters of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. The disclosure, four days before the wedding, is potentially more embarrassing for Parker Bowles than the earlier admission that she will one day become queen. The title remains closely linked in the public mind to Diana, especially among those who blame Parker Bowles for...

It was a fairy tale when we still wanted to believe in fairy tales. The bored and lonely prince after so many years had finally found a young, beautiful, virginal princess. And on their wedding day, his mother was so happy her difficult son had finally found the perfect bride that she danced a jig. And they lived happily ever after. For about a week and a half. Of course, we didn't know at the time that the prince in question was a total sulk who had been getting it on with one of the ugly stepsisters for years. (I...

Some of the sovereign countries who have the monarch as Head of State ‘want out’ THE confusion triggered by the Prince of Wales’s marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles could precipitate a new wave of republicanism across Britain’s former colonies and jeopardise the future monarch’s chances of becoming head of the Commonwealth. As the debate rages over whether Mrs Parker Bowles will become Queen Camilla, the issue has caused deep concern among some of the 15 sovereign countries around the world who still recognise the British monarch as their head of state. Joel Kibazo, spokesman for the Commonwealth Secretariat, which is...

Parker Bowles in line to become queen By Robert Barr Associated Press Writer March 22, 2005 LONDON -- In the latest twist in a royal wedding saga that has been full of flip-flops, the British government revealed Monday that like it or not, Britons will have to get used to Queen Camilla. That's because Camilla Parker Bowles will, by law, automatically become queen when Charles is crowned. While the public has come around to supporting the marriage, opinion polls still show strong opposition to Parker Bowles taking the title of queen. But any attempt to change the rules to bow...

Camilla Parker Bowles does not want to take the title of Queen when the Prince of Wales becomes King, Clarence House insisted today. She will be known as the Princess Consort when the Prince succeeds to the throne, Communications Secretary Paddy Harverson said. Mr Harverson firmly denied claims that the Household had misled the public and said the matter had been made clear from the beginning. “Mrs Parker Bowles’s wishes have been made clear from the start that she does not wish to take the title of Queen and the Prince is in full agreement,” he said. The Government yesterday...

Camilla Parker Bowles will automatically become Queen when the Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne unless there is a change in the law, the Government has confirmed. The Department for Constitutional Affairs admitted legislation would be needed no matter what Camilla wished to call herself when Charles becomes King to prevent this happening. It is believed to be the first time the government has acknowledged this stance on the record. Clarence House has previously insisted the government agreed with its view, taken from legal advice, that it was only a convention for the wife of the King to...

The future bride wore bright red and appeared flushed with the excitement of it all – crowds of paparazzi and blinding flashes as cameras caught the moment for posterity. The future groom, wore – how does one describe it – what started as a traditional black tux, but ended with brilliant red lapels and cuffs. Not exactly what one expects of an aging prince (56) not given to flash and dazzle. Not bad! It was the formal announcement of the engagement. The kids looked happy. The bride-to-be glowed and gushed, "I'm just coming down to earth." She said her betrothed...

Britain's Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles will travel to the United States to meet President George W. Bush and his wife on their first official foreign trip as a married couple, a report said. Officials at the prince's London office, Clarence House, were devising the itinerary for a week-long visit in October or November by the pair, who are due to marry on April 8, The Sunday Telegraph reported, citing royal officials. A spokesman for Clarence House confirmed it was likely that Parker Bowles, 57, would accompany the heir to the throne on future foreign tours after their...

When Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams gives a blessing to Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles at the Guildhall, Windsor, there will, no doubt, be smiles all round. But this royal marriage is both a potential powder keg for the Anglican Communion and a reminder of anti-Catholic legislation.Prince Charles’s announcement that he is to marry his lover Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony on April 8 brought relief to those struggling with the prospect of a future Supreme Governor of the Church of England and monarch in an unmarried relationship with a divorcée.Williams, who has been consistently opposed to...

In the latest episode of the British Royal Family Soap Opera, the Crown Prince has finally got his girl. In short, Prince Charles is to marry Camilla Parker-Bowles, the love of his life, and his mother, the Queen (who is also head of the Church) has given her blessing to the union. It is a truism that it isn’t easy being a Royal Family these days. It used to be so much easier. When the existence of social hierarchy was taken for granted, someone had to be at the top of it, rather like Aristotle’s Unmoved Mover. But nowadays, not...

The Queen's anger at the way Prince Charles's wedding plans have descended into shambles is revealed today.It led to her decision not to attend the register office ceremony at Windsor Guildhall on 8 April. Royal sources tell of her "irritation" that his plans to marry Camilla Parker Bowles have lurched into crisis after a legal hitch meant they could not use Windsor Castle. The source said: "When the ceremony was going to take place at Windsor Castle, the Queen would have gone to the civil part of it. But after it was moved to the register office she made it...