Queen okays Charles' marriage with Camilla?

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, AUG 16. They are talking about it again - the one ``marriage'' that clearly was not made in heaven. So, has the Queen said ``yes'' to Prince Charles marrying Ms Camilla Parker Bowles?

The British media was today agog with speculation after The Spectator published a story saying that Her Majesty had ``grudgingly'' agreed to the marriage and it would be the ``next thing on the agenda'' after her golden jubilee celebrations next year. A denial by the Palace notwithstanding, it was too good a story in the news-starved mid- August to be easily let go by the media, particularly the tabloids.

The story, based on quotes from anonymous Palace ``observers'' and ``courtiers'', said the ``last great thing'' the Queen wanted to do in her life was to sort out the relationship between her son and Ms. Parker Bowles. And all because she did not want the media to pry on the ``sleeping arrangements'' at Buckingham Palace if Prince Charles became King while his relationship with the lady remained uncertain.

Courtiers were reported to be in ``despair'' over the constitutional and legal aspects of such a marriage but believed that it would be ``both cruel and absurd that the Prince and Mrs. Parker Bowles should be forced to contemplate old age deprived of the benefits of comfort of marriage''.

The view was now ``somewhat grudingly'' shared by the Queen as well, The Spectator said, adding it was only in the past two years that she had acknowledged the existence of the ``mistress of the heir to the throne.'' It added: ``In recent months, however, there has been a marked change at the Palace. One well- informed Palace observer says that the Queen accepts that the last great thing she has to do in her reign is to sort out the relationship between Charles and Camilla, and in practice that means to smile on a marriage.''

Having got that out of the way, the great question now was: how the couple can marry? Should it be a church wedding or a civil marriage? And what is the title that Ms. Parker Bowles should take after marrying Prince Charles? Much of the rest of the Spectator article, written by its political correspondent, Mr. Peter Oborne, was devoted to a hair-splitting analysis of the legal and constitutional difficulties posed by a union between a Prince and commoner divorcee. ``Divorce is still a sensitive subject for the national Church, and friends of the couple suggest that Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles may feel that a church wedding is inappropriate, opting instead - like many divorced couples - for a civil wedding followed by a blessing in church,'' he said.

Equally, there were sensitivities relating to the title. Calling her the Princess of Wales would clearly betray insensitivity to the memory of the one and the only Princess of Wales - the late Diana. So, what was the way out? Just call her Mrs Camilla Windsor, Mr. Oborne suggested. The Palace, however, maintained that there was no truth in the story which comes weeks after Prince Charles himself prompted speculation when, in an interview, he hinted philosophically at the possibility of marrying Ms. Parker Bowles. A few days before that calculated hint, the two had exchanged their first public kiss sending the media into a frenzy of excitement.

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Section  : International
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