Preparations for the wedding between the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles have been beset with problems from the moment the engagement was announced. Even the day before his wedding, Prince Charles was in the a storm for ‘‘accidentally’’ shaking hands with Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe.Attending the Pope’s funeral, Prince Charles was seated a few places away from President Mugabe—whose regime is widely condemned. Their handshake was captured on celluloid.A spokesman for Clarence House, the Prince of Wales’ ‘court’, said: ‘‘The Prince of Wales was caught by surprise and was not in a position to avoid shaking Mugabe’s hand. But the Prince finds the current Zimbabwean regime abhorrent.’’There was greater goodwill at the Prince’s wedding, though the Queen and Prince Philip didn’t attend the civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall. Camilla now takes on the title Duchess of Cornwall as ‘Princess of Wales’ was perceived to be too inflammatory. The civil ceremony was followed by a religious blessing in Prince George’s Chapel. Earlier, an Anglican cleric filed a last-minute objection to the wedding, maintaining that Prince Charles could not remarry while being heir to the British throne. Father Paul Williamson (56) a Church of England vicar at St George’s church in West London said his complaint was based on the grounds that Queen Elizabeth II broke her coronation oath to preserve the doctrine of the Church of England by consenting to the wedding.An hour later, ‘commoners’ Fraser Moores (34) and Grace Beesley (33) arrived for their wedding ceremony only to find themselves the unexpected focus of attention, being the first common couple to be married there after the Prince Charles and Camilla.Two dabbawallas from Mumbai were among 800 royal guests. Raghunath Medge (48) and Sopan Mare (55) brought as gifts, a box of homemade sweets and a Tricolour greeting card for the newly-weds.
