Trouble in Royaltyland: Queen Elizabeth’s spokespeople in Buckingham Palace insist Her Majesty won’t attend her son’s wedding in order to keep it “low key.” If you believe that, you must love British food.
At issue is 56-year-old Charles’ marraige to 57-year-old Camilla Parker Bowles, with whom Charles has had a 30-year relationship — a relationship which remains controversial for many who insist on respecting the memory of Charles’ first wife, the late Princess Diana.
However, news reports suggest more is at play in the Queen’s decision to sit this wedding out (perhaps she feels she’d rather attend his NEXT wedding):
“Queen’s anger at wedding shambles,” said London’s Evening Standard newspaper on Wednesday, while The Sun headed its coverage “Royal bombshell.”
Among royal watchers and wedding organizers alike, there was agreement that the impression of slipshod planning, a hint of queenly disapproval and lingering questions over the civil ceremony’s legality were tipping the coming nuptials of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles toward farce.
So there are various issues going on here — by rich people who have “issues.” The Queen’s husband Prince Phillip is unlikely to attend, but Bowles’ two grown kids and Charles’ two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, will be there.
Presumably Harry will be dressed in a jacket and tie this time…
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.