Prince wedding plans may be illegal

[lovuian]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,1271,-4816634,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704



Press Association
Monday February 21, 2005 10:38 PM


The Government has failed to give the Queen adequate advice over the legality of the Prince of Wales's planned marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles, a former Attorney General said.

Sir Nicholas Lyell suggested that emergency legislation may be needed to clarify the legal position before the wedding, planned for April 8. Otherwise, the Royal couple might have to get married in Scotland, as the Princess Royal did when she wed for the second time in 1992.

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, earlier insisted that the wedding will be legal, despite claims from experts that the law does not allow civil marriages for members of the Royal Family in England.

But Sir Nicholas, who was Attorney General between 1992 and 1997, said he felt "some disquiet" about the Government's advice to the Queen. "I don't think she has been given enough advice," he told the BBC Radio 4 PM programme.

more...

I wonder if they got Gonzalez to write the interpretation of the law... Its so funny how one can get any lawyer to give the advice you want!!!

[physioex]

1. Why is this on LBN?

I don't really care about Charles or his wedding plans. It's none of my business.

[lovuian]

2. The Royal family is the rulers of Britain

Its World news because the wedding is coming up... A king abdicated because he married a divorcee... but for Charles the rules can be bent

[physioex]

4. Come on....

This is silly. What has Charles done important in his life other than show up at parades, cut the ribbon at mall openings, and sell tabloids (Diana anyways).

[tjwmason]

7. The Abdication was more because they thought she might be a Nazi

Mrs. Wallis Simpson was widely regarded as having sympathies for the Nazi movement, and it was thought the King could be swayed towards them.

Mrs. Parker-Bowles does not appear to have any strong political views, and is only interested in country sports (which the Prince enjoys anyway), and campaigning for osteoporosis sufferers (I believe that her mother was one).

I am slightly concerned about the apparentl legal issues, these things do not normally crop up as the royals as their chaps know the odd little quirks of the British constution very well - I have to admit to be slightly suspicious of a Blair interference in this (it would not be the first time that he has used the royals for political gain).

[Rhiannon12866]

9. And she was also divorced numerous times

:-(

[Rhiannon12866]

10. And she was also divorced numerous times

:-(

[Zuni]

16. actually the King had expressed pro-Nazi sentiments on his own

he seemed to at least want to avoid war --- at worst he was an outright Nazi sympathizer.
I am not sure, but I think he was exiled to the Carribean to keep him from meeting with Nazis who wanted to use him to influence an anti-war movement in the UK

[CanuckAmok]

23. More than that...

Edward had actually negotiated with Hitler to support Britain's appeasement policy and Hitler's "New Order" Europe on the condition that Edward, and ultimately the House of Windsor would sit has the figurative head of the new European Reich.

He was a pretty dangerous, self-involved fellow, old Edward. This whole "abdicated for forbidden love" thing is a 50+ year old publicity whitewash by the Royals.

[emad]

22. Post #14 applies.

..

[Spinzonner]

3. Gonzales would only need to get involved if

Chuck and Cam are into S & M

[MasonJar]

5. Actually Charles is a committed environmentalist. Why do you

all despise the royals so much? They have more class in the pinkie than the entire Bush family has in their entire body. Just think how embarrassing for America the spectacle Bush created at Buckingham Palace.

[tjwmason]

8. Also the Prince's Trust

Which is his own creation. It provides support to young people seeking to establish themselves, to quote from their web-page:

"About The Prince's Trust

"Welcome. We're a UK charity that helps young people overcome barriers and get their lives working.

"Through practical support including training, mentoring and financial assistance, we help 14-30 year olds realise their potential and transform their lives.

"We focus our efforts on those who've struggled at school, been in care, been in trouble with the law, or are long-term unemployed."

I.M.H.O. a very worth while cause.

[HereSince1628]

11. On this side of the pond, we had an accountability moment

We called it the Revolutionary War.

[barb162]

20. Charles is a long term adulterer, his younger kid had on the Nazi

armband at a party recently, etc. Charles also comes off as extremely arrogant, at least IMO, as if every time he opens his mouth, he thinks something brilliant is being uttered. Charles himself has very little class. The Queen has class though

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Gotta admit it. It's hypocritical that Edward had to abdicate in

order to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson in 1937 because she was divorced. And Queen Elizabeth resented that her uncle was so selfish as to not think of England and how the stress killed her father when he became contingent king. (This is notwithstanding that England would have lost WWII with Edward at the helm.)

I don't understand how Elizabeth could resent her uncle and give her blessings to Charles and Camilla using the same standard.

[Bridget Burke]

12. Yes. Wallis did a favor to England by ridding it of a weak,

Nazi-sympathizing King.

And what of Prince Margaret? Her great love was Peter Townsend, RAF hero of the Battle of Britain. But he was divorced. In those days, she would have had to give up everything to marry him. She wasn't that strong; she threw herself into the social whirl. Eventually, she married but the marriage did not last. Times were changing, but not fast enough for her.

[emad]

14. Humbug. Two assasination attempts on him and his wife

in Spain by Goering are a matter of record. His visit to Hitler in 1937 was at the behest of the UK Prime Minister whose government's official line was one of appeasement of the German regime.

The Royal Archives at Windsor Castle carry all the State documents and correspondence about this and show very clearly that neither the Duke nor the Duchess supported or believed in the Nazi cause, nor in Hitler and his thugs.

Wallis Warfield Simpson's aunt was Elizabeth "Bessie" Wallace Truman, wife of Harry S Truman. Family correspondence and personal documents relating to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, President Roosevelt and later President Truman are very clear about what was going on in the 1930s and onwards re negotations to avert the possibility of war.

The citiation for the Presidential Medal of Freedom which John F Kennedy awarded to Wallis in June 1961 when he and Jackie stayed at their Paris villa during the France/UK official state visit is also of note. It speaks of the immense debt of gratitude that the American people owe to Wallis for the war work she undertook on behalf of the Democratic Party and later on President Roosevelt's behalf. It hints at the classified nature of her work and the importance of her contribution to saving both American and European lives as a direct result of her efforts.

The specific details of this are still locked up in UK's Official Secrets Act and in the US's State Secrets legislation.

In the UK there are agreements with "Queen Elizabeth II" that these will not be made public until after her death.

EDIT: Also of note is the citation that Bessie Truman received when she was awarded the UK's George Cross on the event of her 90th birthday on 17 February 1975. As I understand it, her daughter Margaret Truman Daniel has the documents/medal relating to this and has chosen - so far - not to place it on public record at her late father's library/museum, the President Harry S Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri.

As I understand it, however, Bessie's citation refers also to the War work undertaken by her niece Wallis and the slings and arrows that faced them both when detractors mounted a campaign of defamation against them during the 1960s.

My sources have indicated that a war of words began shortly after Bessie and Wallis joined in a lawsuit against the late Jackie Jennedy's sister, Caroline Lee Bouvier Canfield Radziwill - which allegedly is the origin of what became the Nazi sympathiser slur against Wallis and her third husband.

[Zuni]

17. very interesting

I had never read this before----I know that the King did make some rather questionable statements at one time, and I thought he was in contact with Nazis and was being used by them---but this is all new to me.

If this is the true story I find it rather ugly that I and so many others have heaped scorn on the former King and his wife.

[emad]

21. Much disinformation was used by the UK Government during the

cold war years to hide unpalatable truths about weak political decisions and questionable alliances in the name of "keeping the peace".

From the Windsor Archives it is notable that Wallis, who had Native American blood on her mother's side going back some three, maybe four generations, was considered a threat by the ultra right-wing element of the UK Tory party who plied the UK press in the 30s with the ditty:
"An Injun Queen
Should nver be seen"...
and scorned her as a potential Queen because of her two previous marriages.

Having talked to sources who know more about this, I also understand that the feud with Jackie Kennedy's sister never really abated even when she paid out a reputed £150,000 in damages to Wallis and Bessie Truman in 1967/68 for the defamation that landed her in court.

Wallis's first husband, Earl Spencer (US national, not a UK peer) was also implicated in the lawsuit, allegedly in bitter retribution for having been divorced on grounds of being a violent drunk towards his wife. Don't know exactly what role he played viz Caroline Lee Bouvier's original slur, but he may have been her lover at some stage (along with Henry Kissinger and U Thant) and collaborated with her to humiliate his ex-in public.

Obviously didn't count on Bessie Truman weighing in for the full fifteen rounds!.........

[barb162]

18. England would have lost WWII with Edward..." Why do you write

this?

[mr blur]

13. The law has NOT changed since Edward abdicated

in order to marry Wallis Simpson. And he was already a Nazi sympathiser as were many around at the time. The fact remains that the halfwit and the old tart cannot legally get married when they plan to. Of course they will probably do it because they consider only themselves and consider themselves above just about anything. This conniving goverment we have will no doubt find a way around the law, just for them, because kissing someone's arse for what they can get out of it is what they do best.
My only hope is that this will cause a fuss and hasten the end of the monarchy. Please don't tell me about any "good" the halfwit does - compared to the lives of the people he is ostensibly there to help/serve, his life is one of privilege, greed, arrogance, and shows a complete disdain for just about everyone who isn't a member of his little "ruling" gang. These parasites keep us living in the past and the sooner they're consigned to the past, the better for the UK.

[Ellen Forradalom]

19. Sounds like the law needs to be brought into line with reality

The Royals are just high-profile citizens with extremely high price-tags, not the rulers who are in charge of both Church and State.

They should be allowed a civil marriage like other citizens, but then putting the Royals at the head of the Anglican Church and having churchgoers pray for them should be abandoned, too.

[madinmaryland]

15. I didn't know that The Artist Formerly Known as Prince

was getting married. Go figure.

:shrug:

[Orsino]

24. It is so tempting to paraphrase the net.idiots...

...and accuse the Prince of demanding "special rights." Sorry, perv, but civil weddings are defined as being between non-royals only. Can't have you degenerates mucking about with our traditions, can we?

You can, however, have a Church wedding that conveys many of the same priveleges.

[mr blur]

25. Just an update for those interested:

Our lousy craven government has just announced that it's not illegal for them to get married - even though the law has not changed since the queen's sister faced the same problem. (Hey, there's an election coming up and they need to avoid alienating "middle England" i.e. the people who drive their kids to private schools in huge 4X4 killing machines, and who love the royal family because they make them feel that England is still important - for all the wrong reasons)

Should be a fun wedding for the halfwit though - his mother and father aren't going, nor are his brothers and sister. Apparently the queen thinks it's "vulgar" to get married in a civil ceremony, which should give you all some idea of how fucking backward the people who claim to represent this country can be.

[emad]

26. "Princess Anne" faced exactly the same problem and got permission

to remarry in the Church of Scotland, which is where she tied the knot with Commander Tim Laurence.