The Hindu : Front Page : Queen to give son's wedding the miss

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Thursday, Feb 24, 2005

Front Page

Front Page

Queen to give son's wedding the miss

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, FEB 23. Queen Elizabeth II will not attend the civil marriage ceremony of her son Prince Charles and his long-time companion Camilla Parker Bowles on April 8. The decision is seen as a sign of her unhappiness with the arrangements, which Palace observers have described as a "public relations disaster."

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will attend a church service later to bless the couple and will host a reception. The official reason given for the Queen's decision is that it is in keeping with Prince Charles' wish to keep it a "low-key'' affair, but media reports suggested that she appeared to have been annoyed that the arrangements had not been handled properly.

"She is understood... to have become irritated that her son and Mrs. Parker Bowles appear to have rushed through their wedding plans resulting in a series of errors that have brought embarrassment to the Royal Family,'' The Times said.

There were also suggestions that as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, which does not approve of marriages between divorcees, the Queen did not want to risk a controversy by attending the wedding.

The announcement that she would not attend followed reports quoting experts who questioned the legality of the marriage saying that the law relating to civil marriages did not apply to the royal family.

Buckingham Palace insisted that the Queen was "pleased to be giving the wedding reception'' at Windsor Castle, and a spokesman rejected reports that her decision was intended to be a "snub'' to the couple. "The Queen is attending the service of dedication and paying for the reception — this is not a snub,'' he said.

Another blow

AFP and Reuters report:

The announcement is the latest blow to a wedding ceremony that has already faced a series of setbacks since it was made known on February 10.

One historian declared the Queen's decision to stay away as "unprecedented," while the royal photographer, Arthur Edwards, dubbed it "another snub" against the Prince.

"The one thing [Charles] wanted was to get this wedding over and done with so that [Ms. Parker Bowles] would not be snubbed. Now it seems his own mother is snubbing him and his wedding. It just seems to go on and I just wonder what next is going to hit the couple," Mr. Edwards said.

But a Palace spokeswoman stressed this was not an insult by the Queen, whose recent public backing for the union between her son and his lover has helped warm the public to the match. The royal biographer, Robert Lacey, said the Queen took a pragmatic decision in order to ensure that the wedding retained its dignity. "It is a snub and it isn't a snub," he said. "I'm sure the Queen does not feel it is appropriate, nor does anyone else, for her to pad across the road from Windsor Castle to the registry office opposite."

Clarence House, the official residence of Prince Charles, said the couple was "happy with the decision."

Charles' sons from his marriage to the late Princess Diana — Prince William and Prince Harry — as well as Ms. Parker Bowles's children from her prior marriage, Tom and Laura, are still expected to attend the Windsor Town Hall ceremony. But the Daily Mirror reported that father Prince Philip, brothers Princes Andrew and Edward and sister Princess Anne would also stay away.

Charles, 56, and Ms. Parker Bowles, 57, who have known each other for more than 30 years and dated on and off, cannot marry in a church ceremony because they have both previously married and been divorced. Initial plans called for a civil ceremony to be held inside Windsor Castle, one of the Queen's residences west of London, but those had to be scrapped because the venue is unlicensed.

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