Brits Warm To Charles And Camilla

Press Gives Them Honeymoon; Couple Visits Scotland Church

(CBS/AP) 
In Hong Kong, handed back to China by Britain in 1997, the English-language South China Morning Post ran a massive photo of the couple on its front page. Its editorial said, "This was not a fairy tale wedding — far from it. But it is one which is likely to last."

Even Britain's hypercritical press stopped carping long enough to join in the good will.

"So Happy" enthused the Sunday Express. "At Last!" the Sunday Mirror and The Mail on Sunday agreed in matching front-page headlines.

Some had their complaints, though.

"No kiss for Cam," the Mirror commented in one headline, disappointed the couple didn't pucker up for the cameras.

A survey by the MORI polling firm for The Observer and Sunday Mirror newspapers found 63 percent of those questioned said they supported the marriage, up from 49 percent in a 2002 poll.

More sobering for the prince, 42 percent said he should step aside and let his son, Prince William, be king when Elizabeth dies. That was an increase from 34 percent who said the same in a poll four years ago.

Camilla has undergone a spectacular transition -- moving from the shadows into the royal limelight as the wife of the future king. It will be a constant spotlight that her friends say she will not relish, reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Phillips.

The wedding was far simpler than the spectacular 1981 ceremony in which Charles married 20-year-old Diana Spencer. The local registrar, Clair Williams, conducted the 25-minute civil ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall, or town hall, before fewer than 30 guests — mostly the bride and groom's relatives.

The queen and Prince Philip skipped the ceremony, saying they were respecting Charles' wish that it be "low key," but they were present for a religious blessing of the marriage afterward at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

Royal pomp was far more visible at that service, held under the chapel's majestic arches and televised live. About 800 guests, including Prime Minister Tony Blair and Camilla's ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles, were there. Parker Bowles was seen smiling and chatting with other guests.

Charles and Camilla chose a civil wedding because the Church of England, which he will one day symbolically head as king, frowns on divorcees remarrying. But the religious blessing led by the Archbishop of Canterbury demonstrated the Anglican hierarchy's approval of the union.

Charles has admitted cheating with Camilla after his first marriage had "irretrievably broken down"; Diana also acknowledged being unfaithful. Camilla was married to Andrew Parker Bowles, with whom she had two children, until 1995.

Charles and Camilla met in their early 20s and quickly became romantically involved, but they made no commitment before he went to sea with the Royal Navy and she married while he was gone. They remained close friends, and eventually became lovers again.

Their effort to win public acceptance was put on hold after Diana's death but eventually began again with a carefully choreographed series of steps.