Prince Charles to wed longtime companion

LONDON — Ending years of public speculation and national debate, Prince Charles, heir to England's throne, announced yesterday he will marry his longtime love, Camilla Parker Bowles. According to British law, Charles, 56, needed his mum's permission, and his mum, Queen Elizabeth II, has given it.

Charles and Camilla's first public appearance as a betrothed couple came at a Windsor Castle dinner party last night. Camilla was wearing an impressive diamond engagement ring, said to be a royal heirloom, and told her friends that the prince went down on bended knee to propose.

The announcement was made earlier in the day by Clarence House, the prince's official residence, and immediately rekindled old arguments about Camilla's suitability.

The wedding will be April 8. The couple will tie the knot in a private civil ceremony at Windsor Castle, to be followed by a prayer service in the castle's chapel.

Camilla, 57, will not become the Princess of Wales, the title of Charles' first wife, Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997, but will assume the title of Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cornwall.

When Charles becomes king, Camilla will be known as the Princess Consort, and not as Queen Camilla.

The announcement was rushed through yesterday after the Evening Standard newspaper broke the story. Within minutes of the official declaration, the queen issued a statement saying she and Charles' father, Prince Philip, were "very happy" about the marriage.

Good wishes

Prime Minister Tony Blair and the leaders of the two main opposition political parties expressed their joy. And the Archbishop of Canterbury weighed in as well, saying, "I hope and pray that it will prove a source of comfort and strength to them and to those who are closest to them."

The archbishop's support was considered crucial because Charles, when he becomes king, will also hold the title "Supreme Governor of the Church of England."

Popular approval from the British public may be another matter. Polls have consistently shown a small majority favoring Charles' remarriage but deeply opposed to Camilla becoming queen. Diana is still adored by a portion of the public, many of whom hold Camilla responsible for the breakup of the royal marriage.

Their romance goes back three decades and has a pedigree redolent with royal history and scandal. Camilla's great-grandmother, Alice Keppel, was the longtime mistress of King Edward VII, another of Charles' ancestors.

Camilla, who shares Charles' fondness for horses and fox-hunting, met the prince at a Windsor polo match in 1970. About a year later Camilla Shand, as the 25-year-old debutante was then known, coquettishly propositioned the young prince: "My great-grandmother was your great-great-grandfather's mistress, so how about it?" she reportedly said.

The flame sputtered when Charles joined the navy and Camilla married Andrew Parker Bowles, a cavalry officer and minor royal functionary.

But the two remained friends, and it was Camilla who urged Charles to marry 19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. That marriage went on the rocks, and the hovering presence of Camilla was a major cause.

Diana's "nickname"

Diana referred to her husband's old flame as "the Rottweiler" and suspected his unfaithfulness. The royal couple separated in 1992. A few months later, the infamous "Camillagate" tapes surfaced — recordings of phone conversations between Charles and Camilla, which, in addition to Charles' declarations of love, contained some spectacularly embarrassing intimacies.

Shortly after that, in a television interview, Charles admitted to adultery during his marriage but did not name Camilla.

In 1995, Camilla and her husband divorced, and she became Charles' semiofficial companion. Charles and Diana divorced the next year.

Charles tried to gradually introduce his relationship with Camilla to the public, but that effort was dealt a devastating setback by the crash that killed Diana and her beau of the moment, Egyptian playboy Dodi Fayed.

She re-emerged in 1999 when she was introduced to Prince William and Prince Harry, Charles' sons by Diana.

A year later, Charles brought her home to meet the parents. She then began to appear regularly at Charles' side during charity functions.

After recent renovations at Clarence House, she moved in, and most royal watchers saw yesterday's announcement as inevitable.

Additional information from The Washington Post.