Legal objections to Royal Wedding dismissed

The Royal Wedding between the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles will go ahead as planned after the Registrar General dismissed eleven legal objections.

The reason for the objections was that the 1949 Marriage Act prohibited members of the Royal Family from marrying in a registrar office. The superintendent registrars in Chippenham and Cirencester – the areas where the Prince and Mrs Parker Bowles live - received the objections.

However, the Registrar General, Len Cook, has ruled the wedding can legally take place, under the 1998 Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The ruling means that a marriage certificate can be granted and the Royal Wedding will take place at Windsor Guildhall on April 8. A blessing will take place after the ceremony in St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

The wedding plans have undergone several changes since the Prince and Mrs Parker Bowles announced their engagement on February 10. The couple had planned to marry in a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle, but the venue had to be changed after it was discovered that the license required would mean that anyone could marry at the castle within the next three years.

It was also announced that the Prince would not have a best man at his wedding. It is normal Royal tradition for the heir to the throne to have two "supporters" at his wedding. The Prince's two brothers, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex fulfilled this role at his first marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Queen also announced that she would not be attending the wedding. Some Royal experts claimed that this was a 'snub' to the couple, but both Buckingham Palace and Clarence House denied this, claiming that her decision was made because of the couple's desire to have a 'low-key' wedding. The Queen will attend the blessing at St George's Chapel and host the reception.

(KmcA)