Tony Blair was told Charles and Camilla would probably not wed

2022-12-30

Tony Blair was told Charles and Camilla would probably not wed because ‘awkward issues’ could arise, documents reveal

Mandarin thought that Charles and Camilla would not want to get married
The now King Charles and now Queen Consort Camilla went on to marry in 2005
The late Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh did not attend ceremony
But they did host a reception afterwards for the couple at Windsor Castle

A Downing Street mandarin thought Charles and Camilla would not want to get married due to the ‘awkward issues’ which might arise.

The files show that in a 1997 memo – one month before Princess Diana died – Alex Allan, the PM’s principal private secretary, said the then cabinet secretary Robin Butler wanted to discuss the pair’s relationship at a meeting.

Under the heading ‘Prince Charles and Camilla’, Mr Allan told Sir Tony: ‘Robin put this on the agenda. His private secretary thinks it’s to say there is no likelihood that they will want to get married, with the awkward issues that would raise’.

A Downing Street mandarin thought Charles and Camilla would not want to get married due to the ‘awkward issues’ which might arise

The note was sent a month before Princess Diana was killed in 1997. Charles and Camilla went on to marry in 2005.

The late Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh did not attend the marriage ceremony but did host a reception afterwards at Windsor Castle.

There were questions over the legality of the wedding, with some constitutional experts arguing that the law prevented a member of the Royal Family from marrying at a register office.

But the then Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer gave the marriage the green light.

There were questions over the legality of the wedding, with some constitutional experts arguing that the law prevented a member of the Royal Family from marrying at a register office

He previously said he believed the marriage would be legal based on the 1949 Marriage Act, which updated the law on civil marriages and overturned the 1836 Marriage Act, which banned Royals from marrying in civil ceremonies.

Mr Allen was later knighted and in 2011 was appointed by former Conservative prime minister David Cameron as the PM’s the independent adviser on ministerial standards.

He resigned the post in November 2020 after Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to sack Priti Patel from her role as home secretary despite the adviser’s report concluding she had ‘not consistently met the high standards expected of her’.

The commissioning of an artist who once painted Dawn French in the nude to paint Mr Blair’s first Cabinet provoked jitters, the files show.

Scottish artist Peter Howson was lined up by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 1998, prompting one Labour aide to say ‘OK, but Howson might produce unexpected result.’ The plan was eventually shelved.

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