Some See Royal Wedding As Jinxed

The postponement from Friday to Saturday of the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles because of a conflict with the pope's funeral is just the latest setback for the nuptials, notes.

Charles plans to attend the funeral on behalf of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, then rush back to England for the wedding ceremony.

Charles and Camilla decided they and their family and friends couldn't be seen celebrating while the rest of the world mourned, Phillips says.

But the couple really didn't have much choice, not if they wanted their A-list guests to show up, Phillips points out.

Andrew Pierce, a journalist for The Times of London said on British TV, "Downing Street, in the form of the prime minister said, 'OK, you can have the wedding on Friday,' but I'm going to Rome for sure. He was gonna choose the pope. The Archbishop of Canterbury absolutely said quite clearly, of course he'd officiate at the blessing, but he'd be in great difficulty if he couldn't go to Rome. So in a sense, the prince had two revolvers pointed at his head."

Phillips reports that some people in Britain "are using the 'J-word' about this wedding -- jinxed.

"Just about anything that could go wrong has -- location, guests, ceremony, catering and now, timing. They've all been issues at one time or another."

Will the extra day make a difference? It was the TV topic of the day in Britain.

Former Buckingham Palace press aide Dickie Arbiter said on one show, "Well, 24 hours is not going to kill them. They waited 33 years for this. It's taken 33 years for him to actually make up his mind and pop the question. So another 24 hours is going to be neither here nor there."

And what do the people think?

One Londoner told Phillips, "I think they should just carry on as they are, and live in sin."

A woman, motioning to the sky, said, "I think Diana is up there saying something."

People in London are beginning to wonder what else could possibly go wrong, Phillips says, adding, "It all conjures up images of slips on banana peels or split trousers. You really begin to wonder whether this was really meant to be."

Royals watcher Ingrid Seward, the editor of Majesty magazine, tells The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm Charles had no choice but to put off the ceremony and, ironically, "Five hundred years ago, his ancestor, King Henry VIII, broke away from the church of Rome in order to marry his mistress, and now we have a potential Protestant king bowing to the church of Rome and moving his wedding in order to suit the Italian cardinals."

Why did Charles and Camilla choose to get married the very next day? Logistics, says Seward. All the arrangements were in place – the guests coming in from all over the world, the security -- so they really had to do it quickly or abandon it until the end of the year."

She says Brits were watching the goings-on with amusement, then detachment, but now that's turned to a "groundswell of sympathy for Charles and Camilla. And really, the only other thing that can go wrong is Charles doesn't turn up at the church."

And, Storm asked, what about all the mementos – the cups and spoons and china? They'll all have the wrong date on them.

They're likely to become collectors' items, Seward suggested.