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Jolie Rouge
02-10-2005, 08:57 AM
Thursday, February 10, 2005


LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain's Prince Charles is to marry his longtime lover, Camilla Parker Bowles, the royal family has announced.

The wedding will be a civil ceremony in Windsor Castle on April 8, followed by a service of prayer and dedication in St. George's Chapel at which the Archbishop of Canterbury will preside.

Charles said he and his wife-to-be were "absolutely delighted" at their engagement.

When offered congratulations as he entered Goldsmiths' Hall in London for an engagement Thursday morning, he said: "Thank you very much, you're so kind." He added: "I am very excited."

On their marriage, Parker Bowles will be given the title of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall. When Charles becomes king, Camilla will not be known as Queen Camilla but as the Princess Consort, according to Charles' office.

A statement on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II said: "The Duke of Edinburgh and I are very happy that The Prince of Wales and Mrs. Parker Bowles are to marry. We have given them our warmest good wishes for their future together."

Princes William and Harry are "delighted" at the announcement that their father is to marry Parker Bowles, a Clarence House aide told the UK's Press Association. The Prince of Wales' sons want the couple to be happy, the senior official said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair he was "delighted for the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles, it's very happy news." He said the Cabinet had sent congratulations and good wishes, adding, "We all wish them every happiness for their future together."

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said he was pleased the couple had decided to take "this important step." "I hope and pray that it will prove a source of comfort and strength to them and to those who are closest to them."

The announcement, four days before St. Valentine's Day, came as a surprise to many royal observers. Charles' love life had been the cause of much speculation in Britain since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a Paris car crash in 1997.

Parker Bowles, 57, has been the significant love of Charles' life in recent years but has always faced an uphill struggle to rival his former wife in the public's affection. Since then, and after several years of carefully choreographed appearances together, Parker Bowles has now been widely accepted as Charles' long-term partner. She openly shares official rooms with the prince, 56, at his Clarence House residence in London.

Diana was divorced from Charles -- heir to Queen Elizabeth II -- when she died. Charles' marriage is a sensitive issue because Parker Bowles divorced in 1995 and her former husband Andrew, a former army officer, is still alive. Charles would be the supreme governor of the Church of England if he took the throne, and some Anglicans remain opposed to the remarriage of divorcees. The church is officially neutral on the issue, but former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey recently urged the couple to marry.

Parker Bowles will be stepmother to Charles and Diana's two sons -- Prince William and Prince Harry, second and third in line to the British throne, respectively.

Diana blamed the friendship between Charles and Parker Bowles for the failure of her marriage. "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded," Diana said in a 1995 TV interview.

In 1994, Charles admitted in a TV documentary that he had strayed from his marriage vows, but insisted the infidelity happened only after the marriage was "irretrievably broken down, us both having tried."

It was widely assumed, but never confirmed, that Parker Bowles -- who has two children, Tom 30, and Laura, 24 -- was the other woman.

Hurdle

CNN's Richard Quest said the 2002 death of the Queen Mother, Charles' grandmother, had apparently removed the major hurdle to his marriage to Parker Bowles.

Friends of the prince welcomed news of his impending marriage. Conservative MP Nicholas Soames said he was "absolutely delighted." "I'm very, very happy for both the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Parker Bowles. I think it's wonderful," he told PA.

A spokeswoman for Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer told PA he would be making no comment on the announcement. Diana's biographer, Lady Colin Campbell, said Camilla is a marked contrast to Diana, preferring simple country pursuits to a life of Hollywood-style glamour.

She said she expects a much simpler wedding to the major spectacle of Charles' wedding to Diana in London's St. Paul's Cathedral in July 1981. Campbell said Charles's office Clarence House had mounted a long-running campaign to make marriage between the couple acceptable to the British people.

An opinion poll in June last year showed Britons would narrowly approve of a marriage between Charles and his partner. A second marriage for the Prince of Wales would have the support of 32 percent of the British public, with 29 percent opposed, according to the Populus poll conducted for The Times newspaper. However, it was revealed that most Britons -- 38 percent -- did not care whether Charles and Parker Bowles married.

'Journey'

Three years ago Prince Charles answered a question about whether he planned to marry Parker Bowles by saying, "You can't be certain about anything."

On an interview given to the UK tabloid Daily Mail to mark the 25th anniversary of The Prince's Trust, Prince Charles was asked whether he planned to remarry. He said: "Will I be alive tomorrow? Who knows what the Good Lord has planned. You can't be certain about anything. I don't know. I just think it's important, particularly as I get older, to think about the journey that's coming next."

Thursday's wedding announcement comes before the completion of the inquest into Diana's death. Former head of the Metropolitan Police Sir John Stevens is still investigating the car crash in which she died in August 1997.

Charles' biographer, Penny Junor, told Reuters: "This will divide opinion and some people will think it is the end of the world. But once it has happened, people will accept it. He's very much in love with her and she with him. That's just the way it is."

'Nightmare years'

Winston Churchill, the grandson of the wartime British prime minister and a friend of the prince, said the couple were entitled to their own happiness. He told Sky TV: "They are clearly very much in love. It must be the end of a series of nightmare years for Camilla, every day reading in the papers about being the mistress this and that. They are entitled to have their own happiness the same as everyone else."

As for Charles' sons, he added: "I'm sure the princes only want their father to be happy."

The announcement would not have been made without the queen's approval, according to Sarah Bradford, a biographer of the monarch. She told PA: "I think she is a very pragmatic person and much as she does not like divorce, she may have recognized that it was inevitable."

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/02/10/charles.camilla/index.html

Victorious
02-10-2005, 09:41 AM
I really don't care but it does make me sad. Poor Diana never had that mans heart. On a lighter note I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.

Jolie Rouge
02-10-2005, 09:49 AM
I think Charles is finally resigned to the fact that he will never "rule" from the Throne and that he better grab what happiness he can while he can.

The article made two signifcant statements :


On their marriage, Parker Bowles will be given the title of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall. When Charles becomes king, Camilla will not be known as Queen Camilla but as the Princess Consort, according to Charles' office.

...

Parker Bowles will be stepmother to Charles and Diana's two sons -- Prince William and Prince Harry, second and third in line to the British throne, respectively.

delSol
02-10-2005, 09:52 AM
I am surprised it took so long too...everyone should be allowed to be with whomever they want to be, not be forced into what everyone else expects.

janelle
02-12-2005, 12:58 PM
The tragedy is these two spoiled people didn't get together years ago and marry. I think they dated when they were young then Charles didn't marry her so she married someone else to have children but couldn't give up Charles and they were together with the blessing of her husband who is a friend of Charles'. Oh my head hurts!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway why didn't they get married in the first place and save everyone the pain? GEESH.

schsa
02-12-2005, 03:19 PM
It's about time. Charles will never outlive his mother. William will be king. Charles is in his mid fifties. Let him get married and lets get this mess over with.

buglebe
02-17-2005, 05:42 PM
Everyone does not deserve happiness at the expense of others. I know Charles had so much pressure put on him to marry and have heirs but think about how cruel this whole thing has been to Diana and it never ends. What bigger insult than to have the woman she felt caused the doom of her marriage to be the step mother to her children. What greater insult? There are many people who for one reason or another can not be with the person they love. If he couldn't give his heart to Diana he should have been big enough to stand up to the pressure and not marry her and ruin her life.
I sympathize with Charles but think he should have stood up for what he wanted (Camilla) years ago and not now.

Jolie Rouge
02-22-2005, 03:22 PM
Queen to Stay Away From Royal Wedding

LONDON (AP) - Buckingham Palace said Tuesday that Queen Elizabeth II would not attend the civil marriage ceremony of her son Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. However, the sovereign will attend the church blessing after the civil ceremony, the palace said. The blessing will be led by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

Britain's Press Association reported that Prince Charles' sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, and Parker Bowles's children, Tom and Laura, were expected to be present for the April 8 wedding in the Guildhall at Windsor, west of London.

The Church of England - of which Charles will become titular head when he takes the throne - traditionally frowns on church remarriages for divorcees whose spouses are still alive.


Charles, 56, divorced Princess Diana in 1996. She died in a car accident the next year. Parker Bowles, 57, also is divorced, and her ex-husband is still living.

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-PLS&idq=/ff/story/0001/20050222/1607531639.htm&photoid=20050210LON839

02/22/05 16:07

diana1096
02-22-2005, 05:05 PM
I think Charles is finally resigned to the fact that he will never "rule" from the Throne and that he better grab what happiness he can while he can.

I agree!

schsa
02-23-2005, 02:11 PM
And now his mom won't come to the wedding. That ought to tell Camilla and Chuckie that this isn't good.

Jolie Rouge
03-28-2005, 09:27 AM
Bishop Calls for Prince Charles Apology

LONDON (AP) - A high-ranking Church of England official has called for Prince Charles to apologize to the ex-husband of his fiancee Camilla Parker Bowles, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Bishop David Stancliffe said church rules dictated Prince Charles must atone for committing adultery and he should apologize to Andrew Parker Bowles for breaking up his marriage, The Sunday Times newspaper said.

Stancliffe, a church authority on rules of worship, said the apology should come before the April 8 wedding and should include ``making good of any hurts, the restoration of relationships and serious attention being paid to the relationships fractured or damaged by misconduct.''

He did not say whether he thought the apology should be in person, by letter or by other means.

A spokesman for Charles' office would not comment on the issue.


Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles will be married in a civil ceremony in the town hall at Windsor, west of London, followed by a service of prayer and dedication at Windsor castle's chapel.

It is unprecedented for an heir to the throne to marry outside of a church, but the Church of England - of which Charles will be supreme governor when he is king - has qualms about remarriage for divorcees.

The forthcoming marriage has upset some members of the church - which traditionally frowns on church remarriages for divorcees whose spouses are still alive - because Parker Bowles' ex-husband is living.

Camilla Parker Bowles, who was widely blamed in Britain's tabloid press for the breakdown of Charles' marriage to Princess Diana, divorced army officer Andrew Parker Bowles in 1995.

Their divorce came after Charles admitted in a TV documentary in 1994 that he had strayed from his marriage vows, but insisted infidelity happened only after the marriage was ``irretrievably broken down, us having both tried.'' It was widely assumed, but never confirmed, that Parker Bowles was the other woman.

Prince Charles divorced Princess Diana in 1996, a year before she was killed in a car crash.



03/27/05 08:08

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20050327%2F0808206695.htm&sc=1103&photoid=20050322LON115&ewp=ewp_news_0305queen

JKATHERINE
03-29-2005, 11:19 AM
I don't care that they're getting married. I do think that Charles is an icky slimeball though. If Diana had lived, I hope she would have rid herself of such a poor excuse for a man.

Jolie Rouge
04-04-2005, 10:13 AM
Prince Charles Delays Wedding for Pope Funeral
By Peter Graff


LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Charles has postponed his marriage to long-time lover Camilla Parker Bowles from Friday to Saturday so that he can attend the funeral of Pope John Paul in Rome.

The heir to the British throne cut short his skiing holiday in Switzerland on Monday and flew back to London so he and Parker Bowles could attend a commemoration service in London's Westminster Abbey for the Pontiff, who died on Saturday aged 84. "As a mark of respect, His Royal Highness and Mrs Parker Bowles have decided to postpone their wedding until Saturday," said a spokeswoman at Clarence House, the prince's office.

Charles will be Queen Elizabeth's representative at the funeral. Parker Bowles will not accompany him to Rome, Clarence House added.

Royal watchers said there had been no way to avoid the last-minute change of plan. "Clearly it couldn't go ahead on Friday. It would have been completely wrong for it to have gone ahead on the day of the Pope's funeral," said Daily Mail royal correspondent Richard Kay. "It was clearly in trouble once the Pope died."


The rescheduling also helped resolve a potential protocol problem for others in the British establishment, including Prime Minister Tony Blair and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

Blair has already put off Monday's expected announcement of a May 5 election out of respect for the Pope. Blair is now expected to attend both the funeral and the wedding, although his office did not immediately confirm his plans.


Williams, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, is due to officiate at a service of blessing for Charles and Camilla after their civil ceremony wedding.

Charles' wedding plans have been dogged from the outset by unexpected snarl-ups. The venue had to be switched in a mixup over marriage licenses, constitutional experts questioned the legality of a civil ceremony and the Queen has declined to attend it.

The wedding on Saturday will have to be held in the morning, rather than in the afternoon as originally planned for Friday, because other members of the public are scheduled to wed at the Guildhall in Windsor on Saturday afternoon. (additional reporting by Peter Graff)



04/04/05 10:38


http://channels.netscape.com/ns/celebrity/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0002/20050404/1038818764.htm&photoid=20050317LON811

Jolie Rouge
04-09-2005, 06:03 PM
Charles, Camilla Wed in Modest Ceremony
By CATHERINE McALOON

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 beneath the soaring arches of the Gothic St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

The wedding capped a decades-long love affair that endured the prince's first marriage to Princess Diana and constant tabloid scrutiny.

Charles and Camilla confessed ``manifold sins and wickedness'' - words from the Book of Common Prayer, as Archbishop Rowan Williams blessed their union. They pledged to be faithful in their marriage, then walked from the cathedral to greet the huge crowd assembled behind police barriers on the manicured grounds of the ancient fortress, first associated with William the Conqueror who invaded from France in 1066.

Before setting off for a honeymoon in a cozy Scottish hunting lodge that once belonged to the prince's grandmother, Charles and Camilla left in a black Rolls-Royce for a reception where they were greeted the 800 guests, including Prime Minister Tony Blair, in the castle's State Apartments.


Charles's mother and father, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, joined a Who's Who of Britain, representatives of governments and members of royal houses for the blessing ceremony, where women guests wore a dazzling array of hats, feathers much in favor.


After the town hall nuptials, not attended by the queen to honor the couple's desire to keep it ``low key,'' the Charles and Camilla emerged arm-in-arm to the cheers of onlookers and a jazz band playing, ``Congratulations.'' They waved to the cheering crowd, but there was no public kiss or embrace.

Parker Bowles now takes on Diana's previous status as Princess of Wales, although she plans to defer to public sentiment by avoiding the title and will instead be known as the Duchess of Cornwall.

When Charles takes the throne, Parker Bowles legally will be queen, but she wishes to be known as Princess Consort - a bow to opinion polls that show 70 percent of the population opposed to Queen Camilla.

Many of the wedding guests, including Charles' sons, William and Harry, were from site to site in rented buses. Parker Bowles' ex-husband, Andrew, also was among the fewer than 30 guests at the civil ceremony.

For the wedding ceremony, the bride wore an oyster silk basket weave coat with a herringbone stitch and a matching chiffon dress. She also wore a matching straw and lace hat with feather details. Charles, in contrast to the military uniform he wore for his first wedding to Diana, was dressed in formal morning wear.

The hall was lined with jasmine and lily of the valley - known to symbolize the return of happiness.

The couple initially planned to wed at Windsor Castle but changed their plans because under British licensing law, registering the castle as a wedding venue would mean opening it to the weddings of commoners.

The civil ceremony was in sharp contrast to the pageantry of Charles' 1981 storybook wedding to the 20-year-old Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral.


Waving Union Jack flags or raising banners honoring Diana, crowds lining the streets of the handsome riverside town of Windsor waited in chilly sunshine for the nuptials, which were postponed so Charles could attend Friday's funeral of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.


``It's up to him who he marries,'' said Barbara Murray, 41, who camped overnight with her two daughters to stake out a vantage point to see the couple. ``Whoever he chose wouldn't be the same as Diana.''

Nearly eight years after Diana's death, some have bridled at accepting Camilla Parker Bowles as a future queen, seeing her relationship with Charles as the reason his first marriage fell apart. ``She broke up their marriage,'' said Yvonne Williams, 67, who raised a banner that read: ``Long live the Queen, Diana Forever: King Charles, Queen Camilla - Never.''


Security was very tight. In addition to sharpshooters on rooftops, plainclothes officers moved around in the crowd, dogs sniffed for bombs, and normally unarmed police carried handguns in the streets around Windsor Castle.

Thames Valley Police, responsible for security outside the castle, had 550 officers on duty and Scotland Yard, which is in charge inside the castle, had dozens more.

On Friday, Prince Charles joined world leaders and hundreds of thousands of pilgrims at the John Paul's funeral.


In keeping with tradition, Parker Bowles spent Friday night at Clarence House, the London residence of the Prince of Wales, while Prince Charles spent the night at his country mansion in Gloucestershire, with his sons.


Parker Bowles wore a blue jacket and smiled and waved to the assembled Saturday morning as she set out for Windsor, 20 miles west of London.

Inside Windsor Castle's gates, tents were erected for the media, while every vantage point, from private balconies to the roof of a local liquor store, was converted into a temporary broadcast location. Hotels were fully booked, and souvenir shops were doing a brisk trade in royal wedding mugs and tea towels. Charles met Camilla Shand more than 30 years ago and discovered they shared a common love of rural life.

Her great-grandmother Alice Keppel had a love affair with King Edward VII, Charles' great-great-grandfather. The young Camilla is said to have brought that up after meeting the prince at a polo match in the early 1970s. ``My great-grandmother was your great-great-grandfather's mistress, so how about it?'' she is reported to have told the prince.


But he sailed off with the Royal Navy without cementing their relationship. In his absence, she married Andrew Parker Bowles.


In 1981, the prince married Diana, who won the nation's heart but did not hold her husband's. Charles acknowledged years later that he had broken his marriage vows after the marriage deteriorated and despite his and Diana's efforts to save it.


``There were three of us in that marriage,'' Diana said later - but she admitted affairs of her own.


Many Britons took Diana's view, vilifying Parker Bowles as a royal home-wrecker.


Charles and Diana were divorced in 1996, a year after the Parker Bowles' marriage dissolved.


After Diana's death in 1997, Charles and Parker Bowles cautiously began making their relationship public. Their first public appearance together came in 1999; the first public kiss in 2001. In February, the prince and Parker Bowles announced that they would wed.


The wedding faced a series of obstacles, including the debate over what title Parker Bowles would take. Speculation later surfaced about whether the wedding would be legal. But the registrar general dismissed a series of objections and the government's chief legal adviser said there were no legal obstacles.


Associated Press reporters Jill Lawless and Beth Gardiner contributed to this report.

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001/20050409/1105246535.htm&ewp=ewp_news_0405royal_wedding

04/09/05 11:05

Jolie Rouge
04-09-2005, 06:09 PM
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20050409/lthumb.lon36704091718.britain_royal_wedding_lon367 .jpg

Britain's Prince Charles with his new wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, following a Service of Prayer and Dedication at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, Saturday, April 9, 2005, after their earlier civil service wedding at the Guildhall in Windsor.