The Wedding

No, this is not about Nicholas Sparks’ novel of the same title. But the characters in the novel have pretty the same ages as compared to the most anticipated wedding of the year. And no, it’s not Britney Spears’ third wedding, but just like Britney, the two parties are former divorcees. The two parties to be united are His Royal Highness, Charles Prince of Wales, and the soon to be Camilla Parker Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall, and legally, the new Princess of Wales.

While teenage girls shrieked to the delight of seeing Princes William and Harry, the subjects of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II, wait in anticipation of the results of the wedding of Prince Charles and Mrs. Parker Bowles. In has been more than 30 years in the making. As a matter of fact, the Prince and Mrs. Parker Bowles had been affectionate to each other even before His Royal Highness’ wedding to Lady Diana Spencer. When the Prince went to the Navy, Mrs. Parker Bowles married her now divorced partner.

IS THIS LEGAL? AND WOULD BE HER TITLES?
Several had questioned the legality of the civil marriage. Nevertheless, the Lord Falconer of Thoroton said that the civil ceremony would be legal.

As for her titles, the Royal Family is walking on a tightrope between legality and public acceptance. Since the new wife of the Prince of Wales would use all of the titles Princess Diana took,, the legal experts of the Royal Family devised of new and recycled old titles for Mrs. Parker Bowles.

The Duchess of Cornwall - While the Prince is still the Prince of Wales, Mrs. Parker Bowles would be addressed to her. However, the prefix Her Royal Highess would be used even though it might prove to be unpopular to the British subjects.

Princess Consort - When Prince Charles accedes to the throne, the Duchess of Cornwall would be using the title Princess Consort which is believed to based from Queen Victoria’s husband, Albert, Prince Consort.

QUEEN CAMILLA?
Would the British subjects accept Camilla as their Queen?

If Princess Diana would still be alive today, Prince Charles wouldn’t even be thinking of having a marriage, much less an engagement to Mrs. Parker Bowles. However, due to Diana’s (shady?) death, and the length of time that has elapsed, the British people had learned to accept that days like this would come. However some Lady Diana diehards accuse of Mrs. Parker Bowles of breaking up the once fairy tale marriage.

It is true that Princess was, and still is, beloved not only by the British people, but also by many people worldwide. The Royal Family learned this truth the hard way when during Lady Diana’s funeral, the Queen took 5 full days for her to acknowledge her death. This was seen to be a very unpopular move by the British media.

The “snub” of the Queen to the wedding reflects the lesson learned during Diana’s funeral. They may say that because the Queen is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, she can’t possibly endorse, much less attend a wedding between two divorcees. But what the heck, tha is your son’s wedding! Well, if you’re the Queen, and with the dysfunctional family she is leading, it must have been tough.

The British people are a liberal people, and they are intelligent. Divorce can’t be a hindrance when love awaits on the other side, yet the people you look up to, the people that are the symbols of your country are putting themselves under the scrutiny of the press, and being ridiculed by other people (Well that is significantly better than marrying a daughter of a drug lord, but that’s another story).

I wish the Prince and Mrs. Parker Bowles a blissful marriage. And the song says it all too well: love moves in mysterious ways. It really does.