Royal union to be blessed

The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles will have their civil union on April 8 blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.

London dailies have reported that while Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, will one day head the Church of England, Archbishop Williams had advised against a church wedding. The Church of England has relaxed rules on the remarriage of divorced persons, but some clergy refuse to perform such weddings.

In a statement from Lambeth Palace, Archbishop Williams said that the blessing, which he would perform at St. George’s Chapel, is “consistent with Church of England guidelines concerning remarriage.”

Prince Charles met Ms. Parker Bowles in 1970, and has admitted to committing adultery with her while still married to his first wife, Diana, Princess of Wales. Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorced in 1996; she died a year later in a car crash in Paris.