Watch CBS News

Any Other Royal Wedding Snafus?

The wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, as everybody now knows, was supposed to happen Friday but will take place instead on Saturday. And, reports CBS News Correspondent

in London, "A lot of fingers are crossed around here. The way things have been going -- an extra day's wait is an extra day for something else to go wrong."

Or maybe – just maybe -- an extra day could give some very cold, wintry weather time to improve, Majesty magazine Editor and royals watcher

told The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen Friday.

In the royal household, Seward says, "Everyone is crossing their fingers saying, 'Please, may nothing else go wrong." The Saturday Early Show will have reports from London and live coverage of some wedding events.

The most recent snafu -- the breaching of Windsor Castle security by some British journalists posing as delivery men -- is now being investigated by police. You can bet, Phillips observes, security will be tighter Saturday, when the great and the good assemble for the wedding.

"It's going to be a wonderful day," says the Duchess of Devonshire, a friend of Charles and Camilla. "It's a real celebration for the two of them and all their friends, all the people they're fond of."

In fact, Seward paraphrased Camilla as having said, "I'll marry you, but I want to have fun people at my wedding. I don't want a lot of 'have-to-haves.' I want the people who have been really good to us…and that we really like."

And that's the route they've taken, Seward adds: "Looking at the guest list, there's a lot of extremely rich people going who have helped Prince Charles. There's a large American contingent. Joan Rivers is going," along with many other show business figures. Sting was invited but can't make it, though his wife is attending.

Also, Seward says, many from the "sort of aristocracy of British actors" will be in attendance.

Among the noteworthy non-invitees -- Sarah Ferguson who, Seward says, simply isn't close to Camilla.

And Queen Elizabeth. The couple will be married in a civil ceremony at the Windsor Guildhall next to the palace, with just 23 family and friends present. The queen, Phillips explains, won't be there because of her position as head of the Church or England.

Seward assured Chen it's "not a snub."

But royal ancestors -- most notably the venerable queen Victoria -- will glare down on the ceremony from portraits on the walls, Phillips notes, presumably not amused by the scene of a divorced future king marrying a divorced woman with whom he's admitted having a 30-year affair.

"But," Phillips quickly continues, "never mind!"

The queen will attend a televised prayer service in the chapel at Windsor Castle, where the couple will say a prayer of penitence for their past -- very public -- sins. It'll be just part of the scrutiny the groom, and particularly the bride, will be under.

Royals watcher Victoria Mather says, "The national sport is going to be, just how hideous she is coming up the aisle; what are they going to look like? And are we all going to be sitting in our drawing rooms, compelled to watch the television going, 'Ew!' And, 'Ehh!' "

Camilla hasn't gotten much of a break, Phillips says, mostly because of the blame she still shoulders for being the famous third person in Charles' and Diana's marriage.

And the unkindness continues in various forms, Phillips observes, "including speculation on what sort of poem the poet laureate will come up with. The Camilla rhymes being thrown around in the press are vanilla, gorilla and Godzilla.

"Still, Camilla will have the last laugh. As of (Saturday), she'll be a princess, Her Royal Highness, the wife of the future king, a fact everyone, including the current queen, cannot deny."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.