WINDSOR, England : Britain's Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, the true love of his life, on Saturday in a private civil ceremony that inevitably paled against his storybook wedding to Princess Diana more than 20 years ago.
Charles, 56, the heir to the British monarchy, and Camilla, 57, were married at the 17th century Guildhall in Windsor, west of London, with an afternoon service of blessing and reception at next-door Windsor Castle to follow.
Some 15,000 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, police said. Many were foreigners who had come specially for the day.
In comparison, around 600,000 had turned out in London in July 1981 when Charles wedded Diana inside the domed splendour of St Paul's Cathedral.
Even the 1999 marriage of Charles's younger brother, Edward, also in Windsor, attracted around 20,000 well-wishers.
The couple smiled and waved as they emerged arm-in-arm through the red front doors of the Guildhall after the 25-minute ceremony and climbed into a dark Rolls Royce limousine for a three-minute ride to Windsor Castle, the royal family's weekend residence.
Camilla, now officially Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall, wore an ivory-cream dress, matching full-length coat and a broad, lace-brimmed hat topped with feathers. The groom opted for a classic black morning suit.
"The sun is shining. The crowds are filling the streets. It's going to be a wonderful day," said Paddy Harverson, the Prince of Wales's communications director, on BBC radio, shortly before the nuptials.
Charles and Camilla, both divorcees, were declared man and wife by local registrar Clair Williams inside the Guildhall before 28 specially invited guests and no media at all.
The couple's eldest sons by their previous marriages, Prince William and Tom Parker Bowles, acted as witnesses.
Notable by their absence, however, were the groom's parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, who were to be at the grander - and televised - 45-minute Anglican service of blessing in St George's Chapel, within Windsor Castle.
There, Charles and Camilla were due not only to express their love for each other, but also, reading from the stern and uncompromising 1662 Book of Common Prayer, to "acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness".
The mood was set to lighten up at an afternoon reception, also in Windsor Castle, at which more than 700 people had been invited, ranging from continental European royals to the likes of pop star Sting.
The couple were then to slip away to Scotland for a 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 1997, a year after her divorce from Charles.
Saturday's wedding, originally planned for the day before, was hastily rescheduled in order not to clash with the Vatican funeral of Pope John Paul II, attended by Charles and 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 changed 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 lodged objections right up to wedding day, while a tabloid newspaper 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. - AFP
They're both so old, should settle down and enjoy their lifes already.