The legality of Prince Charles’ wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles has come into question after constitutional experts revealed that civil weddings were banned for the royal family.
The Whitehall papers suggest that the Marriage Act of 1836 banned the royal family from civil weddings.
“Nothing in this Act shall affect any law or custom relating to the marriage of members of the Royal Family,” the Daily Express quoted a 1949 follow-up Act, which continued the prohibition, as stating.
The British government has been accused of a cover-up after the discovery of the secret documents, made by researcher Michael Jones, claiming that it was wrong to permit the civil ceremony to the royal couple.
Charles and Camilla’s wedding had taken place at Windsor Guildhall in April 2005 following the then Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer’s decision to overrule the ban.
However, Downing Street is said to have always declined to publish the legal advice taken by ministers that allowed Charles and his second bride a civil ceremony.
Meanwhile, there are reports that Prince Charles may never be King Charles.
The world’s most famous prince, who has a fabulously privileged lifestyle, is prone to deep bouts of brooding. His 60th birthday will reinforce the mood of introspection. The Prince of Wales knows that with each subsequent birthday the pressure will grow in some quarters for the Royal family to skip a generation when anointing the next monarch.
Although he was born to be head of state and is still fired by a determination to hear the traditional, sonorous proclamation, “The Queen is dead, long live the King”, in his blacker moods his fear is that the proclamation, “Long live the King” will be for William V, not Charles III. (In fact, some in his circle have urged him to be George VII, in honour of the Queen’s father, because of the unfortunate historical associations with monarchs called Charles.)
The fear that drives his anxieties over becoming King also motivates his work. He is an impatient man prone to temper outbursts, shouting at his officials if they fail to deliver what he wants when he wants it. One of his most familiar refrains is: “Why is this taking so long? We need to do this now. I hate this red tape.”
The title issue will be decided in the court of public opinion and by the Prime Minister of the day. The latest poll ratings in The Daily Telegraph show support for “Queen Camilla” has fallen from 28 per cent when she was 60 last summer to only 17 points today. While they will not press the panic button at Clarence House, the figure will reinforce the pressure on the Duchess to raise her profile. At the moment she performs half the number of engagements as the Queen, who is 20 years older.
Clarence House, which was lavishly restored at a cost of more than £6 million after the death of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, may also remain his home when he becomes King. One option is to turn Buckingham Palace into the ceremonial headquarters of the monarchy.
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