LOVE IS lovelier the second time around, or so the popular song written by Sammy Cahn tells us. On this occasion, although the groom – previously married in more majestic surroundings – looked confident and pleased with himself, the bride – previously the much-publicised mistress of the groom – looked distinctly nervous.
The wedding between Charles, Britain’s Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker-Bowles hadn’t got off to the best of starts. The venue had been changed, the ceremony had been postponed 24 hours due to the Pope’s funeral, the legality of the whole thing had been questioned and the groom’s parents were nowhere to be seen.
The previous week, Charles had arranged a skiing holiday with his two sons in Switzerland, presumably in an effort to calm everyone’s nerves, but only succeeded in making things worse.
At a convened meeting with the press, Charles was caught on microphone muttering “I hate doing this” and, when asked by the BBC’s royal correspondent, Nicholas Witchell, if he was looking forward to the wedding, the Prince muttered: “Bloody people. I can’t bear that man. I mean he’s so awful, he really is.” It was hardly an auspicious start to the proceedings…
The civil ceremony was a private affair conducted at the local register office, otherwise known as the Windsor Guildhall. Security in the town was tight, particularly after it was revealed that, two days prior to the wedding, two journalists from The Sun newspaper had driven a van containing a box clearly marked “Bomb” through a police check-point and into the grounds of Windsor Castle, where the blessing and reception were to be held.
The wedding was a much more informal affair than the groom’s first to Princess Diana at St Paul’s cathedral in 1981. Television cameras were not allowed into the Guildhall, but we saw Charles arrive, wearing a traditional morning suit, while Camilla had chosen an oyster silk coat and dress. In a break with tradition, the couple arrived together at the ceremony, although they had spent the previous night apart. All the senior royals attended except the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh. The official witnesses to the short ceremony were Charles’s elder son, William, and Camilla’s son, Tom Parker-Bowles.
For the blessing in St George’s Chapel some 90 minutes later, Camilla had changed into a porcelain-blue silk dress, which everyone agreed suited her better.
The 800 or so guests, selected from the good and the great, included royals, politicians and show-biz personalities. The service was followed by a buffet reception laid on by the Queen, at which the guests were offered egg and cress sandwiches, miniature Cornish pasties and fruit cake. The Queen, who seemed unable to get away fast enough from the blessing ceremony, made a speech which started with her announcing the name of the Grand National winner and ended with her toasting the happy couple.
Charles and Camilla, now Duchess of Cornwall, left for their week-long honeymoon in Scotland in a royal Bentley limousine, on which Princes William and Harry had sprayed suitable graffiti.
Although there was undoubtedly some opposition to the marriage, and considerably more indifference, the overall impression was one of deep happiness between two people whose love for each other had endured – rightly and wrongly – for more than 30 years. As one observer put it: “After so many years, they are like a pair of comfy old slippers together.”
Many people get a second chance of finding happiness, but one suspects Charles and Camilla will prove that love IS lovelier the second time around. MIKE JOHNSON
