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Sunday April 3, 05:38 PM

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LONDON (AFP) - Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria will give a miss to the wedding of Britain's Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, in order to open an IKEA store in Japan, according to a British report.

The News of the World tabloid said 27-year-old Victoria, daughter of King Carl XVI Gustaf, was among a long list of European royals expected to miss the wedding next Friday.

Instead, she will attend the inauguration of a new branch of the Swedish furniture chain in Japan.

The only royal household sending a "suitable" guest, the tabloid said, was Norway, which will be represented by 31-year-old Crown Prince Haakon.

Charles, 56, and his longtime companion Parker Bowles, 57, will be wed in a civil ceremony in the town hall of Windsor, west of London, followed by a prayer ceremony and party held in Windsor Castle, residence of Queen Elizabeth II.

11.42AM, Mon Apr 4 2005
ITV.com

The wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles may be postponed if it clashes with the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

Cardinals have gathered in the Vatican to arrange the funeral which is likely to take place on either Thursday or Friday.

In London, Clarence House officials said a Friday funeral would not affect the Royal wedding.

But sources have suggested the couple may delay their marriage by 24 hours if the Papal funeral is scheduled for April 8.

Mon Apr 4, 2005 05:12 PM BST

LONDON (Reuters) - 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 in Rome.

Charles 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 the Queen'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 2005. All Rights Reserved.

17:40 UK, Wednesday April 06, 2005 :SKY

Financial trouble has hit the royal wedding with calls for Buckingham Palace to contribute to the cost of policing Saturday's event.

The wedding was put back by 24 hours to enable the Prince of Wales to travel to Rome for Pope John Paul II's funeral on Friday.

His marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles will now take place at 12.30pm at Windsor Guildhall on Saturday instead.

The move has disrupted the racing world with Aintree organisers deciding to delay the start of the world famous Grand National by 25 minutes to 4.10pm.

And the postponement has also caused a headache for those trying to police the wedding in Windsor, with many officers having to work when they should have been on a day off.

Hundreds of officers from the Metropolitan Police and the Thames Valley force will be deployed in a huge joint operation headed by Commander Bob Broadhurst.

Scotland Yard refused to confirm reports that police officers would have to be paid overtime at twice their normal shift rate - possibly doubling the cost of the policing operation.

But Sally Hannon, chairwoman of the Thames Valley Police Authority, said the date change would be costly and she hoped Buckingham Palace would make some contribution to help cover the additional cost.

"It's normal for police authorities, when they have large events like this, to ask for extra funds," she said.

"We probably will ask the palace for a contribution because, though we don't know the actual amount yet, it is likely to be large."

Clarence House said the police were consulted before the change of date was made.

"Security costs are a matter for the police and the Home Office," a spokeswoman said.

Snow, ice and blizzards have been predicted for the royal wedding and Grand National, as an Arctic blast pushes down from the North.

I am going to watch this wedding and wait to see what else can go wrong - I think Diana is sitting on a pink cloud laughing her head off at the chaos there has been so far

Apr 7, 2005 — By Claudia Parsons :ABCNews

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The wedding of Britain's Prince Charles to a woman dubbed by one tabloid commentator "the Duchess of Frump" has stirred few hearts in America, distracted this week by the pomp and ceremony of a papal funeral.

"America has a case of the royal blahs," said the Omaha World-Herald in Iowa, deep in the heartland of a country which, despite fighting a war for independence from England, has a soft spot for the glamor and old-world charm of the royals.

"The marriage of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles on Saturday just isn't tugging at our heartstrings the same way his marriage to Princess Diana did in 1981," the paper said.

Charles, 56, and his lover of 35 years, Camilla Parker Bowles, 57, will marry in a humble town hall ceremony in Windsor, west of London.

The Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek, California, had some words of advice for the couple, noting that second marriages were not uncommon "even among us common folk."

"Although no one consulted us, we would have recommended Vegas," it said. "It's fast, easy and, for a few extra bucks, the future king could have been married by the former king," referring to a Las Vegas speciality of being married by an Elvis Presley impersonator.

New York Post columnist Cindy Adams slammed Charles for dithering before deciding to postpone his wedding, originally fixed for Friday, to avoid a clash with the Pope's funeral.

"The wedding of that prince of a guy to the Duchess of Frump or whatever those simians at the Palace titled Camilla is now Saturday," Adams wrote. "What is it with these royal retards? Even a lowly scribe knew this blessed bliss absolutely could not be same day as the Pope's funeral."

There was more sympathy from columnist Ellen Goodman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who said she was still hooked on the "thoroughly un-fairy tale wedding," not least because of the "beastly" media treatment of Camilla.

"It was as if Charles had upset the natural order of things, whereby every Donald Trump must have his trophy wife," Goodman wrote, tipping her hat to the couple for their endurance, if nothing else.

Journalists from all over the world and Heather Mills McCartney will descend on Windsor this weekend .
Hello

Is Robert Mocarbi dropping in as well after he visits Rome

Princess Diana never struck me as a petty person..I think she will would wish them well now.

I think she would have been highly amused at the goings on

She probably doesn't care, [mod edit:This comment could cause offence]

April 08, 2005


One thing we for certain about the upcoming ‘royal wedding’ – it’s cursed. If Macbeth were marrying Lot’s wife on Friday the thirteenth in a church built on an ancient Indian burial ground it couldn’t be a more cursed occasion.

Whatever’s behind it (the disgruntled spirit of Diana? – some arcane Sachsen-Coburg voodoo done by a disapproving mother-in-law?) it’s mighty powerful juju that the unhappy couple are doing battle with. It cost the Pope his life. And it’s not over yet; not by a long shot.

Here then are the latest odds on what atrocities will disrupt the special day…

Evens – Prince Philip (feigns heart attack)
2/1 – Charles (nervous breakdown / turns up naked)
4/1 – Fathers4Justice (parachute in dressed as Beefeaters)
10/1 – new pope (elected and dies immediately)
12/1 – Prince Edward (does something stupid)
20/1 – tsunami (wipes out London)
40/1 – al-Qaeda (Legoland Windsor)
100/1 - Diana (reanimated / burns down registry office)

The London News Review would like to offer its congratulations to the happy couple: may they rest in peace.

Inreview

What was it i said that was factually innacurate then


Or offensive or wrong, i want to know coz this is the first time i've been moderated

Ok Ok ... did anyone else laugh when the royal couple got out of the car to booing

i`m watching the beeb and after just a short while strongly want to strangle morgan and the dumb bird saying how great the royal couple are

quoye of the day -- camera picks up janet street porter in the crowd.. Piers morgan says "just proves they will let anyone come and watch..

was there really booing?