WINDSOR (AFP) - Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, the true love of his life, in a private civil ceremony that inevitably paled against his storybook wedding to Princess Diana more than 20 years ago.
Illicit lovers during their previous marriages, they went on to vow in public to be faithful to each other, after repenting for their "manifold sins and wickedness" on Saturday.
Charles, 56, the heir to the British monarchy, and Camilla, 57, exchanged vows at the 17th century Guildhall in Windsor, west of London, a marriage followed by a mid-afternoon service of blessing and reception at next-door Windsor Castle.
Some 20,000 people, many cheering and waving Union Jack flags and hats, lined Windsor's picturesque streets under blue skies to catch a glimpse of the new royal couple, according to police estimates.
That was far fewer than the 600,000 who turned out in London in July 1981 when Charles wedded Diana inside the domed splendour of St Paul's Cathedral, and a measure of the limited interest that Saturday's nuptials have aroused in the British public.
Charles and Camilla smiled and waved as they emerged arm-in-arm from the red front doors of the Guildhall after their 25-minute civil wedding and climbed into a dark Rolls Royce limousine for a three-minute ride to Windsor Castle, the royal family's weekend residence.
Later, in a sober Church of England service of blessing in Saint George's Chapel, within the castle, Charles and Camilla were asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, if they resolved to be faithful to each other, "forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live".
They replied: "That is my resolve, with the help of God."
With the rest of the congregation of nearly 800, including Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, they also acknowledged "our manifold sins and wickedness which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed ... We do earnestly repent."
The mood looked set to lighten up at a reception afterwards, also in Windsor Castle, with guests ranging from continental European royals to pop stars and actors. The newlyweds were then to slip away to Scotland to honeymoon on the royal estate of Balmoral.
Charles and Camilla have had an on-and-off intimate relationship going back more than 30 years, and in recent years have effectively lived as man and wife, often appearing together at official functions.
But many still hold the practical, country-loving Camilla responsible for the break-up of Charles's marriage to the glamorous Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in August 1997, a year after her divorce from Charles.
Saturday's wedding, originally planned for Friday, was hastily rescheduled in order not to clash with the Vatican funeral of Pope John Paul II attended by Charles and by Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of the guests at Saturday's blessing.
The arrangements were dogged by gremlins from the beginning, with the wedding venue being switched from Windsor Castle to the Guildhall for licensing reasons and Queen Elizabeth opting not to be present when they tie the knot.
A handful of royalty purists raised objections right up to wedding day, when three were lodged and swiftly rejected, while a tabloid newspaper on Thursday exposed security flaws by driving into Windsor Castle in a rented van with a fake bomb inside.
Even on Saturday, Charles woke up to see himself on the front pages of newspapers shaking hands at the pope's funeral with Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who is accused by the British government of gross human rights violations.
In keeping with tradition, Charles spent the night before the wedding apart from his bride-to-be at Highgrove, his country mansion in the west of England, with sons William and Harry, while Camilla remained at Clarence House, the couple's official residence in London.
They were declared man and wife by Windsor registrar Clair Williams in the upstairs Ascot Room of the Guildhall where William and Camilla's eldest son Tom acted as witnesses. There were only 38 guests, and no media, for the wedding which Queen Elizabeth did not attend.
Camilla, now officially Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall, wore an ivory-cream dress, matching full-length coat from Robinson Valentine and a broad, lace-brimmed hat topped with feathers from Philip Treacy. Charles opted for a classic black and grey morning suit.
For the service of blessing, Camilla switched into a porcelain blue silk dress with handpainted ikat design, with hand-embroidered gold thread work.
from http://uk.news.yahoo.comhttp://uk.news.yahoo.com/050409/323/fg07x.html
□ 彭麗 ( 中國國際廣播電台特稿 )
也許教皇的葬禮是查爾斯王儲與卡米拉婚禮前的最後一個 “ 始料不及 ” ，婚期為此又推遲了一天。但與他們 35 年的坎坷曆程相比，這可以算成是忽略不計的瞬間。今天，他們將在溫莎市政廳為這段 “ 蕩氣回腸 ” 的愛情長跑畫上一個句號。
如果說查爾斯的第一場婚禮像一個童話，這一次卻在接近真實。來自英國廣播公司 (BBC) 的消息稱，英國下院議員邁克爾 · 古寧斯等人相信，查爾斯為了迎娶卡米拉為妻，已經與英國女王達成了秘密協議。古寧斯說： “ 我和我的同事都相信，查爾斯為娶卡米拉和女王達成了一項協議：那就是他娶卡米拉為妻，而威廉王子將可以直接當國王。 ”
查爾斯的 “ 遠見 ”
江山與情人能否兼得
擔心當不上英國國王
查爾斯的傳記作家安東尼 · 赫爾登曾說： “ 查爾斯身體內的每一個細胞都渴望成為一個國王。這是他生命的意義，如果沒有這一等待，他的生命將什麽也不是。 ”
然而，白金漢宮發言人證實，英國女王伊麗莎白二世已經做出決定，她將一直擔任女王直到死去，中間不會退位，按照英國王室女性成員一向長壽的傳統，如果英國女王活到王太後一般年齡 (101 歲 ) 才去世，那麽王儲查爾斯到時已經 79 歲，如此年紀的人繼承王位，肯定會在英國引發巨大的爭議。
查爾斯的密友也透露說，查爾斯私下裏一直擔心他永遠也不會成為英國國王，他對自己的前景有時充滿了悲觀態度， “ 他一直擔心自己不能繼承王位，他也總是跟朋友談起這一點。也許他會比母親先去世，也許當他等到繼承王位時，他已經太老或太衰弱，無法履行國王的職責。 ”
因此，一直苦苦等待而仍沒有當上國王的查爾斯很可能會失去耐心，於是寧可像愛德華八世一樣 “ 為愛棄江山 ” ，選擇迎娶情人歸。至於查爾斯和女王之間是否真有這樣的交換協議，也許隻能用時間來證明了。
不錯的王儲
事實上，除了麻煩的感情生活，查爾斯是一個不錯的王儲。
他並不是隻懂兒女情長的紈絝子弟，他曾因攻擊現代建築、支持有機農場和非常規藥物而受到嘲笑，但這些觀念現在都得到了共識。
自 1976 年開始，王子信托基金已幫助培訓超過 50 萬境遇不佳的年輕人，指導和幫助他們開始自己的事業。他的 “ 公爵原創 ” 美食和有機食品的生產線使有機農場生機勃勃，銷售 125 種產品，去年盈利近 200 萬美元，全部捐給慈善事業。
所有的愛情童話在男女主人公戰勝了妖魔鬼怪或經曆了千難萬險、最終走到一起後，都以同樣的話結尾 —— 他們從此過上了幸福的生活。但人們都明白，童話每每到此便戛然而止，那是因為婚姻中不再有童話。
那麽查爾斯與卡米拉從此會過上幸福的生活嗎？當然沒人能夠準確預測這個結果。
查爾斯與戴安娜一度被認為是那麽美滿的一對兒，結果他們的悲劇證明，全世界的人都看走了眼。
不過，人們在分析了卡米拉的個性後推測，這個被稱為 “ 年齡是戴妃兩倍、美貌是戴妃一半的女人 ” 的幸福指數可能會高於戴安娜。
卡米拉的 “ 童話 ”
幸福指數高於戴安娜
多年沉默讓人們刮目
卡米拉年輕時的一位朋友回憶說，上個世紀六十年代中期，卡米拉開始參加社交活動，她希望在上流社會的圈子裏找到一位門當戶對的如意郎君。每當有帥氣的小夥子進入她的視野，她的眸子會立即閃爍出熱情的光彩。
她正是以這樣的方式俘虜了當時年輕而風流的王子。
在查爾斯與戴安娜結婚以後，卡米拉作為 “ 第三者 ” 、 “ 查爾斯的情婦 ” 和 “ 膽敢破壞童話的壞女人 ” 聲名遠揚，她曾經被外國的肥皂劇塑造成反派人物，甚至還有過在超市裏被人當麵謾罵和往臉上扔麵包圈的屈辱經曆。而卡米拉深知自己角色的不光彩和輿論的強大力量，她自己從沒辯解過，也反對別人為自己辯解。她多年的沉默最終讓人們刮目。
老派女人與王儲更般配
不久前，英國憲法事務大臣證實，一旦查爾斯王儲繼位，從法律上講，卡米拉將自動成為王後。
盡管有人暗示，查爾斯王儲當初在宣布卡米拉不封後的決定時態度並不真誠，因為他非常清楚，國王的妻子自動成為王後的法律自 1936 年就有了，但是很多熟人都出麵證明，卡米拉並不是貪戀王後頭銜的人。
卡米拉從來都沒有漂亮過，當她與王儲即將正式結婚的消息傳出後，人們委婉地評價說， “ 他們很般配 ” 。卡米拉的為人一向和風細語，這是她最明顯有別於年輕氣盛、容易脾氣急躁的戴安娜的地方，她充滿母性的關愛與嗬護讓王儲感到舒服和輕鬆。有人說，與戴安娜相比，卡米拉仍然屬於老派的女人，她性格堅定，彬彬有禮，能忍辱負重，永遠支持丈夫。她更適合查爾斯這樣古板的國王。所以她的幸福指數可能要高於戴安娜。
【婚禮日程】
- 當地時間 9 日 12 時 30 分，婚禮將在倫敦西部的溫莎市政廳舉行。查爾斯長子 22 歲的威廉和卡米拉長子 30 歲的湯姆 · 帕克 · 鮑爾斯將作為見證人出現，現場隻有 28 名最親近家庭成員。
-20 分鍾後，卡米拉成為 “ 康沃爾公爵夫人 ” 和 “ 威爾士王妃 ” 。
- 下午 2 時 30 分，約 800 名來賓將聚集溫莎堡聖喬治禮拜堂，參加由坎特伯雷大主教羅恩 · 威廉斯主持的祈福儀式。
- 下午 3 時 15 分，新人在宣誓對彼此忠誠後，彼此祝福，然後前往溫莎堡參加由女王伊麗莎白設宴款待的慶祝舞會。
- 舞會大致於下午 5 時 45 分結束。
【懺悔詞】
由於查爾斯和卡米拉被認為對各自的婚姻不忠，因此他們必須在祈福儀式上為自己的不忠行為請求寬恕。而二人的懺悔詞將來自 17 世紀的英國國教祈禱書。
“ 我們承認自己犯下的嚴重罪孽，並為之感到悲傷， ” 其中一句這樣念道。
儀式上，坎特伯雷大主教羅恩 · 威廉斯將問王儲： “ 查爾斯，你肯定會對自己的妻子忠誠，並為了你們的生活拋棄其它一切嗎？ ”
主教還會問女王和參加儀式的 800 多名賓客： “ 你們，他們 ( 查爾斯和卡米拉 ) 的家人和朋友，會在現在以及將來支持他們嗎？
