After a 3-decade affair, Charles, Camilla to wed

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Feb 11, 2005 by Sarah Lyall New York Times News Service

LONDON -- They have been friends for 30 years and lovers for most of that time. They have survived marriages to and divorces from other people; the icy disapproval of relatives; the resentment of the public; and, perhaps most excruciating of all, the publication of intimate details of their risque pillow talk.

But now Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker Bowles, whose love affair is said to have begun when she cheekily declared, "My great-grandmother was your great-great-grandfather's mistress, so how about it?," are to take the most radical and surprising step of their long, star-crossed romance.

They are getting married.

The wedding is to take place on April 8 in a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle, Charles announced Thursday, but the 57-year-old bride will not become the Princess of Wales -- that position having already been more than filled by the prince's late and much-remembered ex- wife, Diana. Instead, Parker Bowles will be known as Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall.

Nor will she be crowned queen. In a move that addresses one of the thorniest issues surrounding the marriage, Parker Bowles will become the princess consort if Charles, 56, succeeds his mother on the throne. It will be the first time in the history of the English monarchy that such a title has been used, according to Vernon Bogdanor, professor of politics at Oxford University, and the first time an English king's wife has not been queen. (Queen Victoria did have Albert as Prince Consort.)

The announcement gives official status for the first time to Parker Bowles, who has been living in an uneasy purgatory -- part of the prince's life, but bound by royal custom and social protocol to be an unequal partner. Although in recent years the two have appeared more often together in public, their murky status has put her in a difficult and oddly anachronistic position.

In earlier eras, of course, royals were not allowed to marry divorced people (never mind, unless they were Henry VIII, being divorced themselves). In 1936, Edward VIII renounced the throne rather than give up Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. In 1955, Prince Charles' aunt, Princess Margaret, broke off a relationship with a divorced man rather than relinquish her royal status and all its perks.

But in a sign of how much things have changed, this time Queen Elizabeth gave her permission for, and blessing to, the engagement of her divorced son to his divorced lover. Saying that she and her husband, Charles' father, were "very happy," she ordered that the Round Tower at Windsor Castle be lit in celebration.

The queen has not always appeared to be Parker Bowles' biggest fan. Although Charles has for some time been openly living with Camilla, his mother has very rarely entertained the two of them as a couple and indeed seemed intent on distancing herself from the relationship. But the two met in 2000, and on Thursday the Queen said that "we have given them our warmest good wishes for their future together."

In their own statement, the prince's two sons, Prince Harry and Prince William, said: "We are both very happy for our father and Camilla and we wish them all the luck in the future."

While the majority of respondents in several snap public opinion polls in Britain on Thursday said they disapproved of the engagement, crowds of well-wishers cheered Prince Charles during a public appearance in London, and politicians rushed to congratulate the couple.

Even officials of the Church of England, which until 2002 did not even allow divorcees to marry in church, have come around to the idea that Charles and Camilla would be better off married than not. The question has been complicated by the fact that when he becomes king, Charles will also become supreme governor of the church.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said he was pleased at Charles and Camilla's decision "to take this important step." After the civil wedding ceremony, he has agreed to lead a service "of prayer and dedication" at St. George's Chapel in Windsor.

In a world of expendable relationships, where middle-aged men trade in middle-aged women for younger, firmer models as easily as they might dispose of a creaky toaster or last year's car, the enduring relationship of Charles and Camilla, as the newspapers call them, carries a sweet poignancy for many.

Although in recent years she has had something of an image makeover, appearing more in couture dresses and less in frumpy countrywoman garb, Parker Bowles can hardly be called glamorous and does not appear to care. She once called herself "your devoted old bag" in a love letter to Prince Charles.

Even those unable to forgive Charles for cheating on the late Princess of Wales can take a certain comfort in knowing that if he had to do it, at least he took the counter-intuitive route, choosing someone older, wrinklier and less svelte than his wife, rather than the other way around.

It has always been clear that, unlike many couples who are actually married, Charles and Camilla truly like each other. They share a passion for hunting, fishing and other outdoor sports. They have bawdy senses of humor. More than that, it seems, the fun-loving Camilla is relatively uncomplicated (at least compared with Diana) and has been stolidly supportive of Prince Charles over the years, despite all the angst the relationship has put her through.