Charles delays wedding for Pope funeral

Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. Picture / Reuters

LONDON - Prince Charles has postponed his marriage to long-time lover Camilla Parker Bowles from Friday to Saturday so that he can attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II in Rome.

The heir to the British throne cut short his skiing holiday in Switzerland on Monday and flew back to London so he and Parker Bowles could attend a memorial in London's Westminster Cathedral for the Pope, who died on Saturday aged 84.

"As a mark of respect, His Royal Highness and Mrs Parker Bowles have decided to postpone their wedding until Saturday," said a spokeswoman at Clarence House, the prince's office.

Charles will be Queen Elizabeth's representative at the funeral. Parker Bowles will not accompany him to Rome, Clarence House added.

Royal watchers said there had been no way to avoid the last-minute change of plan.

"Clearly it couldn't go ahead on Friday. It would have been completely wrong for it to have gone ahead on the day of the Pope's funeral," said Daily Mail royal correspondent Richard Kay."It was clearly in trouble once the Pope died."

The rescheduling also resolved a potential protocol problem for others in the British establishment, including Prime Minister Tony Blair and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans.

Williams will attend the Pope's funeral on Friday and return on Saturday to lead a blessing ceremony for Charles and Camilla in Windsor Castle, after their civil wedding ceremony at a register office down the road.

Blair, who put off Monday's expected announcement of a May 5 election out of respect for the Pope, will also attend both the funeral in Rome and the blessing service for Charles and Camilla the following day.

Blair and his wife Cherie, a Catholic, attended Monday's memorial service at Westminster Cathedral, seat of the Catholic Church in England, along with senior cabinet ministers and leaders of opposition parties.

Charles' wedding plans have been dogged from the outset by unexpected snarl-ups.

The venue had to be switched in a mixup over marriage licences, constitutional experts questioned the legality of a civil ceremony and the Queen has declined to attend it.

The wedding on Saturday will have to be held in the morning, rather than in the afternoon as originally planned, because other members of the public are scheduled to wed at the Guildhall in Windsor on Saturday afternoon.

- REUTERS