Prince Charles bans media from wedding

The media are to be banned from the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, it has been announced.

Only thirty people, including Princes William and Harry, are expected to be present at the couple's civil ceremony, which will take place at Windsor Guildhall on April 8.

The couple had previously announced that they wished their wedding – the second marriage for both of them – to be a private affair. The Prince's re-marriage will be in sharp contrast to the spectacle of his first wedding to Diana, Princess of Wales at St. Paul's Cathedral in 1981, watched by over 750 million television viewers.

A spokeswoman for the Prince said: "It was never intended that the civil ceremony should be televised as it was always planned to be a relatively small, personal occasion."

The wedding between the Prince and Mrs Parker-Bowles has courted controversy ever since the couple announced their engagement on February 10. The original planed venue, Windsor Castle, had to be changed after it was discovered that the license required for the couple to marry there would mean that anyone could marry there within the next three years.

Shortly afterwards, it was announced that the Prince would not have a best man, breaking the Royal tradition for heirs to the throne to have two "supporters" at their wedding – the Prince's brothers, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex fulfilled this role at the Prince's first wedding.

The Queen also announced that she would not be attending the wedding, which some Royal experts deemed as a 'snub' to the couple – an allegation that was denied by both Buckingham Palace and Clarence House. However, the Queen will attend the blessing at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, which will take place after the civil ceremony as well as host the reception.

Last week Registrar General Len Cook, ruled that the wedding could take place legally. Eleven objections had been lodged, because the 1949 Marriage Act prevented members of the Royal Family from marrying in a registrar office. However, the Registrar General ruled that the wedding could legally take place under the 1998 Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights.

No decision has yet been made on whether the media will be allowed to cover the blessing at St George's Chapel.

(KmcA)