As the Duchess of Cornwall, (Camilla Parker Bowles) waved as she entered Westminster Abby behind Prince Charles, was she thinking of the disaster that had been her marriage to the next king of England?`

When Charles and Camilla first met in 1970 royal courtiers looked on her as being an inappropriate match. While he went overseas for military duties without asking Camilla to wait, Camilla married Andrew Parker Bowles, whom she later divorced.

So many things went wrong when she eventually married her Prince Charming; Prince Charles, now the longest standing heir apparent to the British throne.

Friday April 8th was the official wedding date, with the Official first day covers postmarked.
Prince Charles always represents Great Britain and the Queen, who does not usually attend funerals. So Prince Charles had to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II, on April 8th. 
The royal troubles however, were only just starting.

Prince Charles was the first royal ever to be involved in a civil wedding, which was to be held at Windsor Castle. However, it was not licensed for a civil marriage, so the couple reluctantly had to choose a decidedly more downmarket town hall.

During the marriage service both Charles and Camilla acknowledged the 'manifold sins and wickedness' of their earlier adulterous relationship.

Later speculation arose about whether or not the civil wedding is legal; however the Registrar General has threw the objections out.

Queen Elizabeth II only succeeded to the British throne because her uncle King Edward VIII abdicated for his love, the American divorcee, Mrs Wallis Simpson, back in 1936.

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, outright refused to meet the divorcee Mrs Wallis Simpson, even up to the time of her death. The incongruity is that another divorcee, Camilla Parker Bowles, wears the Queen Mother's engagement ring.

Queen Elizabeth II, as Head of the Church of England, was thrust in a quandary, when Prince Charles wanted to marry a divorcee. Neither the Queen nor the Duke of Edinburgh attended the civil service. They were present at the Church of England service of blessing held at St. George's Chapel and hosted a reception for the couple in Windsor Castle.

Prince Charles and Camilla's official wedding photos were not taken in the throne room, as would normally be the case, but in one of the many other palace drawing rooms.

Camilla's wish is to be called by the lesser title of the Duchess of Cornwall, thus avoiding any confusion with Prince Charles' first wife, Princess Diana, rather than become automatically the Princess of Wales upon her marriage to Prince Charles.

Three year-old granddaughter of Camilla is seen to be holding a bright pink wiggly worm, in the official royal wedding family photo of Prince William and Princess Catherine. The worm had been given to her by Prince Harry during the scary carriage ride back from Westminster Abbey.

As Camilla sat in Westminster Abbey, among the glorious pomp and ceremony of the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, was she filled with sadness that her wedding had not been of the same standard. If she is a realist she may also have realized she may never walk the Abbey as a British Queen.

About the Author:
Dr Wendy Stenberg-Tendys and her husband are CEO's and founders of YouMe Support Foundation, providing high school education grants for children who are without hope. You can help in this really great project by taking a few minutes to check out the Sponsor a Student program at (http://youmesupport.org). It will change the life of some really needy kids in the South Pacific.