The engagement announcement was rushed through Thursday after the Evening Standard newspaper broke the story, but it still was carefully orchestrated to show full support from the British establishment. Within minutes, Queen Elizabeth issued a statement saying that she and Charles's father, Prince Philip, were "very happy" about the impending marriage. Prime Minister Tony Blair and the leaders of the two main opposition parties expressed their approval.
Williams, the leading cleric in the Church of England, weighed in as well, saying, "I hope and pray that it will prove a source of comfort and strength to them and to those who are closest to them."
The Prince of Wales and his partner Camilla Parker Bowles attend the Mey Games in Caithness, Scotland on Aug. 7, 2004.
(David Cheskin - PA)
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The archbishop's support was crucial because Charles, if he becomes king, will also be the official head of the church. Williams said in his statement that plans for a civil ceremony had his "strong support" and were "consistent with Church of England guidelines concerning remarriage which the Prince of Wales fully accepts as a committed Anglican and as prospective Supreme Governor of the Church of England."
Diana, who is still adored by a die-hard portion of the public, made her feelings known about Camilla in a 1995 BBC interview when she said with undisguised bitterness: "There were three of us in this marriage. So it was a bit crowded." Her nickname for Camilla -- "The Rottweiler" -- has stuck among the British public.
Parker Bowles and Charles met in 1970 at a polo match in Windsor. According to legend, she reminded him of a long-running affair between two of their forebears. "My great-great-grandmother was your great-great-grandfather's mistress, so how about it?" she jokingly asked him.
A romance ensued but apparently faded when Charles embarked on a naval career and Camilla became engaged to and eventually married Andrew Parker Bowles, a friend of Charles's. Still, the prince and Camilla remained good friends and rekindled their affair sometime before Charles met and married Diana Spencer in 1981.
Supporters of Charles and Diana have argued for years over who strayed first during their unhappy marriage. Charles admitted in a 1994 interview that he had committed adultery, but only after the marriage had "irretrievably broken down."
In any case, by 1989 Charles's affair with Parker Bowles was so public that Diana confronted her at a party. The princess later recalled in a taped interview: "She said to me, 'You've got everything you ever wanted. You've got all the men in the world in love with you and you've got two beautiful children. What more do you want?' So I said, 'I want my husband.' "
The Parker Bowleses divorced in 1995. Charles and Diana separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. Diana's death in 1997 led to an unprecedented outpouring of public grief -- and renewed abhorrence of Charles and his mistress. Women threw bread at her in a supermarket.
In recent years Charles has sought steadily to bring Parker Bowles into the public eye and prepare the ground for Thursday's announcement. In 1998 she met Prince William and Prince Harry for the first time, and they co-hosted a party to celebrate Charles's 50th birthday. They were photographed vacationing together in 2000 and kissing in public in 2001.
Winston Churchill, grandson of the World War II prime minister of that name and a close friend of the prince's, told the BBC that the couple wanted to "finally end the limbo which they have been in, which must have been difficult enough for Prince Charles but a nightmare for Camilla . . . not to be able to accompany the person she loves in public."
Observers said the queen, who had to give her formal consent, would be satisfied with an arrangement that met the requirements of both church and state. "For the queen, the most important word is duty," said a former royal aide who spoke on condition of anonymity. "She would not have wanted a situation that caused new problems with either the church or the government."
But the former aide cautioned that Charles's marriage should in no way be seen as indicating that the queen, who is 78, was any closer to stepping down as monarch.
"The dirtiest word at Buckingham Palace is the A-word: abdication," he said. "She's in fine health, she's got wonderful genes -- after all, her mother lived to be 100 -- and many of us expect her to reign for 20 more years."
