Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, married his long-time love, Camilla Parker Bowles, in a civil ceremony at Windsor in April 2005. The couple decided to ditch a church wedding even if Prince Charles could technically marry a divorced person with a living ex-spouse since the Church of England amended its rules in 2002.
It was presumed that Prince Charles and Camilla decided to be wedded in a civil right to appease traditional Anglicans. There were still plenty who disapproved of the remarriage of a divorcee at that time.
However, the civil rite was still heavily debated upon by legal experts. It was a problem because Prince Charles was the first member of the British royal family to choose a civil ceremony.
According to the experts, Prince Charles and Camilla's decision "flew in the face," of legal textbooks. It also went against the history of the royal family itself, which shunned civil registration, as in the cases of King Edward VIII and Princess Margaret.
The Marriage Act 1836 also discouraged royals from having a civil marriage. It was thought that since Prince Charles and Camilla are also religious, they would have opted for a church wedding.
However, Clarence House dismissed the arguments against the civil rite based on the advice of four legal experts. The Marriage Act 1836 was repealed by the Marriage Act 1949, and the House of Lords upheld the decision to grant the civil registration of the Prince of Wales to Camilla.
Prince Charles and Camilla made their wedding plans in February. The Queen announced that she and Prince Philip wouldn't be attending the ceremony itself, but she will be there during the prayer rites and the reception.
The wedding, however, was postponed for one day since Prince Charles had to go to the funeral of Pope John Paul II to represent Queen Elizabeth. The delay gave other dignitaries the chance to be able to witness the wedding.
Prince Charles and Camilla's wedding had Prince William and Prince Harry as witnesses as well as the son of Camilla from her first marriage, Tom Parker Bowles. After which, the ceremony had a televised blessing and the prayer service. Some 800 guests were in attendance.
After the wedding, Prince Charles and Camilla went outside to greet the throve of people who waited in the streets for the royal wedding. The wedding party then moved on to one of the Windsor estate for the reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth.
