The ceremony, conducted in the presence of the couple's families, was followed by a Church of England Service of Prayer and Dedication at St George's Chapel.
The groom's parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , did not attend the civil wedding ceremony, but were present at the Service of Prayer and Dedication and held a reception for the couple in Windsor Castle afterwards.
Notable figures in attendance included international political, religious and royal figures, as well as various celebrities. On 10 February , it was announced that Camilla Parker Bowles and Charles, Prince of Wales , would marry on 8 April , at Windsor Castle with a civil service followed by religious prayer. The Privy Council met on 2 March to give effect to the Queen's consent to the marriage, in conformance with the provisions of the Royal Marriages Act It has a s platinum setting and it is composed of a square-cut central diamond flanked by six diamond baguettes.
A civil ceremony was chosen when the Archbishop of Canterbury refused permission to the couple to marry in church, due to opposition to the marriage within the Anglican church. Charles is the first member of the royal family to marry in a civil ceremony in England. Stephen Cretney , a Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford , questioned whether Charles and Camilla could marry in a civil ceremony, as the Royal Family was specifically excluded from the law which instituted civil marriages in England Marriage Act In the newspaper The Times on 22 February , the lawyer David Pannick wrote: "It is difficult to understand how the happy couple can marry in a civil marriage ceremony, as they intend, without causing a right royal nullity Section 79 5 of the Act still prevents a civil ceremony.
The first lawyer to put his name to a contrary view was Lord Falconer of Thoroton , Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor, who made the following statement in the House of Lords on 24 February:. Civil marriages were introduced in England, by the Marriage Act Section 45 said that the Act " But the provisions on civil marriage in the Act were repealed by the Marriage Act All remaining parts of the Act, including Section 45, were repealed by the Registration Service Act No part of the Act therefore remains on the statute book.
