Prince Charles-Camilla wedding 'illegal'?

London, Nov 10: The legality of Prince Charles' wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles has come into question after constitutional experts revealed that civil weddings were banned for the royal family.

The Whitehall papers suggest that the Marriage Act of 1836 banned the royal family from civil weddings. "Nothing in this Act shall affect any law or custom relating to the marriage of members of the Royal Family," the Daily Express quoted a 1949 follow-up Act, which continued the prohibition, as stating.

The British government has been accused of a cover-up after the discovery of the secret documents, made by researcher Michael Jones, claiming that it was wrong to permit the civil ceremony to the royal couple.

Charles and Camilla's wedding had taken place at Windsor Guildhall in April 2005 following the then Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer's decision to overrule the ban.

However, Downing Street is said to have always declined to publish the legal advice taken by ministers that allowed Charles and his second bride a civil ceremony.

ANI