Royals rally for Charles

The Queen and Prince Philip will be the only senior members of the royal family to stay away from Charles's civil wedding.

Their presence at the 20-minute register office ceremony amounts to one of the biggest recent royal turnouts.

Princes Andrew and Edward, Princess Anne and William and Harry will join Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles at Windsor Guildhall.

Their presence at the 20-minute register office ceremony amounts to one of the biggest recent royal turnouts.

And it contradicts the reason Buckingham Palace gave for the absence of the Queen and Philip when officials said they would not attend as it was a "low-key" event.

Today full details of who would crowd into the cramped Ascot Room and the roles they will play in the ceremony were revealed by Charles's office at Clarence House. Prince William and Camilla's son Tom Parker Bowles will act as witnesses.

Also present on Friday 8 April will be Camilla's father Major Bruce Shand and her daughter Laura Parker Bowles. The Countess of Wessex and Anne's husband, Rear Admiral Tim Laurence, will be there.

The ceremony will be conducted by superintendent registrar Clair Williams, a 45-year-old divorced mother-of-two.

A preliminary meeting will take place during which the registrar will confirm the bride and groom's details.

Charles and Mrs Parker Bowles will arrive together and leave the Guildhall by car from Windsor Castle. They will be driven in a 1962 Rolls Royce Phantom V previously used by the Queen Mother.

Despite the major royal turnout the absence of the Queen and Philip, who is flying back from a foreign engagement on the morning of the wedding, is a major humiliation for the couple.

Originally Clarence House indicated that the only guests at the wedding would be William and Harry and Mrs Parker Bowles's two children, as well as a handful of witnesses.

According to informed sources the Queen felt it inappropriate to attend without Prince Philip at her side.

Both will, however, be present at the service of dedication at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

It has been reported that the Queen had already told Charles she finds the idea of a register office ceremony "vulgar". She also apparently ordered him to scale down his "lavish" reception plans which she is hosting at the castle.

Since the Evening Standard exclusively revealed Charles and Camilla's wedding plans, royal aides have tried to put a brave face on a series of setbacks.

Charles's spokesman, like Buckingham Palace officials, dismissed claims of a snub by the Queen on the grounds that the wedding was low key.

They said at the time: 'This was always going to be a low-key, unfussy event. The Queen has chosen not to attend the civil ceremony because of the fuss it would create."

The Queen, according to close sources, has long been opposed to Charles's relationship-with Mrs Parker Bowles. She only agreed to support their marriage when it became clear that her son's "dithering" on the subject was damaging the monarchy more than a potentially unpopular marriage would do.

Charles's plans have already been hit by a string of embarrassing blunders. Even the original announcement had to be made earlier than expected after the news leaked to the Evening Standard.

The venue then had to be switched from Windsor Castle to the town hall because the Prince's aides had failed to check the legal and practical requirements of holding it at the castle. It soon emerged that all civil ceremonies must, by law, be open to the public so that anyone who wanted to object could do so.