The Unofficial British Royal Family Pages

On the 10th of February 2005 the engagement of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles was announced. The picture on the left is the official engagement picture as released by Clarence House.

The wedding would originally take place on Friday 8 April, but has been moved to Saturday 9 April so that Prince Charles can attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II on Friday 8 April.

The wedding civil ceremony will take place in the Guildhall, Windsor and will be followed by a church blessing. Prince William and Tom Parker Bowles (Camilla's son) will serve as witnesses to the civil wedding ceremony, which is conducted by the Royal Borough's Superintendant Registrar, Clair Williams. The ceremony will take place in the Ascot Room within the Guildhall and will last approximately 20 minutes. Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, Princess Anne and her husband Timothy Laurence, Major Bruce Shand and Laura Parker Bowles will be among the guests attending the civil marriage.

As Mrs. Camilla Parker Bowles is divorced there can be no church wedding. Instead there will be a service of prayer and dedication in St George's Chapel. The following guests are among those expected to attend this service: Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Prince Edward, Sophie, The Countess of Wessex, Princess Anne, Read Admiral Timothy Laurence, Peter Phillips, Zara Phillips, Viscount & Viscountess Linley, Lady Sarah Chatto, Daniel Chatoo, The Duke & Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke & Duchess of Kent, Prince & Princess Michael of Kent, Princess Alexandra, Mr & Mrs James Ogilvy, The King of Bahrain, The King & Queen of the Hellenes, Prince Constantijn & Princess Laurentien of The Netherlands, Prince Haakon & Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, Prince Radu of Hohenzollern, Princess Margarita of Romania, Prince Turki Al-Faisal & Princess Nouf bint Fahad of Saudi Arabia, Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia, The Crown Prince & Princess Alexander of Yugoslavia.

HM Queen Elizabeth II will host a reception at Windsor Castle to celebrate the wedding. The Queen will not attend the civil marriage, probably for religious reasons.

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The Engagement Period Timetable Wedding Facts The Wedding Service Amazon Suggestions Links

Prince Charles proposed to Camilla on the 10th of February 2005. In the period leading up to the wedding day, Prince Charles and Camilla certainly have had their fair share of hurdles to overcome. Initially planning to get married in Windsor Castle, it soon became clear there were some issues with this plan. Windsor Castle does not currently have a license for weddings to take place there. Obtaining a license would mean that anyone else would also be able to get married there. So a decision was made to move the wedding to the Guildhall in Windsor instead.

After the wedding bans were posted, several people submitted objections to the wedding. Luckily for Charles and Camilla, all of the objections were rejected after review, so the wedding scheduled for April 8th could go ahead as planned. Or so they thought...  On Saturday 2 April 2005, Pope John Paul II passed away, and his funeral has been scheduled for Friday April 8th, Charles & Camilla's wedding day. This has led to the decision by the couple to postpone their wedding to Saturday 9 April instead. Prince Charles will be attending the Pope's funeral on behalf of the British royal family.

Of course Prince Charles gave Camilla an engagement ring as well. The ring he gave her used to belong to the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Charles' grandmother. The ring is made of platinum and has an emerald cut center diamond with three diamond baguettes on each side of it. The UK supermarket ASDA made news headlines by offering a replica of the engagement ring for �19.

The Car
Prince Charles and Camilla will arrive and depart from the Guildhall in a Rolls-Royce Phantom VI painted in Royal claret livery, which was used by The Queen for over 25 years. The Phantom VI was presented to The Queen in 1978 for her Silver Jubilee and has been used regularly for official duties since. It was used during The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh's State Visit to Russia in 1994 and also by the Earl and Countess of Wessex for their wedding in 1999.

The Cake
Buckingham Palace ordered 20 fruit cakes for the wedding reception from Mrs Etta Richardson at the request of Prince Charles, who had first tasted the fruitcake during a visit to Llansteffan, Wales, on 13th July 2004 as he toured a small exhibition of societies and organisations associated with the village. Mrs Richardson has named her boiled fruit cake "Etta's Royal Cake".

Royal Harpist
The royal harpist, Jemima Phillips, will perform at the reception at Windsor Castle. She has been the Royal Harpist since 2004.

The Rings
The wedding rings are made of gold from the Clogau St David's mine in Bontddu, North Wales and are being designed by Wartski of London.

The Dress
Camilla's dress is designed by Robinson Valentine, and her hat is being designed by Philip Tracy. Her hair is being styled by Hugh Green of 'Hugh and Stephen'. No further details are known yet.

Titles
Although Camilla will be taking on all titles Prince Charles has upon her marriage (including that of Princess of Wales) she has chosen to be known as Duchess of Cornwall. Once Charles becomes King she will most likely be known as Princess Consort, even though legally she would be Queen Camilla.

More details about the wedding will be added here Saturday evening.

The wedding service will be broadcast on various tv channels across the world. The Order of Service can be downloaded here.

Order of Music for the Service of Prayer and Dedication

Before the Service:
Organ: Walton, Suite from Henry V; Bridge, Adagio in E; J.S. Back, Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C (BWV 564)
Orchestra: Excerpt from Handel, Water Music Suite No. 3 in G HWV 350; Excerpt from Handel, Water Music Suite No. 1 in F HWV 348; Finzi, Romance for String Orchestra in E Flat Major op 11; Peter Maxwell Davies, Farewell to Stromness (arr. Furniss); Elgar, Serenade for Strings Op 20; Grieg, Last Spring, Elegiac Melody, No 2, Op 34; Albinoni, Oboe Concerto op.9 no.2 in D minor: Adagio

During the Service:
Gretchaninov, The Russian Creed; J.S. Bach, "Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland" Cantata BWV 62:I:Chorus
Hymns: Immortal Invisible (St Denio); Love Divine All Loves Excelling (Blaenwern); Praise, My Soul The King of Heaven (Goss)

After concluding blessing:
The National Anthem; Alun Hoddinott, Celebration Fanfare; Excerpt from Handel Water Music Suite No. 2 in D:II; J.S. Bach, Prelude and Fugue in G..

The Royal Wedding - Webcam The Times: Charles & Camilla The Telegraph: Royal Wedding Factfile BBC: In Depth: Charles & Camilla Hello!: Charles and Camilla