Charles's wedding date to be postponed

The latest reports indicated that the Royal aides were reviewing the wedding date.

The latest reports indicated that the Royal aides were reviewing the Prince of Wales' wedding date amid the news that the Pope's funeral would also take place on the same day. The funeral is to take place at 9 am London time on Friday while the wedding ceremony is to start from 2.30 pm.

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Clarence House earlier said the Royal ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall, followed by a church blessing, would proceed regardless of any clash. But it added the wedding plans remained "sensitive to other events" and that it would continue to assess the situation. Prince Charles is due to marry Camilla Parker Bowles on Friday in Windsor.

A spokeswoman for Clarence House had said: "If the funeral (of the Pope) were to take place on Friday it would not affect the wedding. "It is only a hypothetical question at the moment but as far as Clarence House is concerned the wedding will go ahead as planned on Friday."

But others had averred that Prince Charles's wedding saga was plunged into a new crisis amid fears that it would clash with the Pope's funeral. Tony Blair and the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, who is due to conduct a blessing to the Royal couple, would have to give more importance to attending the funeral than the reception at Windsor Castle.

Although both Downing Street and Lambeth Palace of the Archbishop refused to comment, a BBC correspondent said "it (postponement) seemed inevitable." Charles cutting short his holiday was also rushing back to attend the service for the Pope at the Westminster Cathedral on Monday evening.

According to the information available, the wedding is most likely to be delayed by 24 hours. The civil ceremony could be held on April 9, in the morning as no other weddings are booked for at that time. Sources said that if the wedding did not place on Saturday it could be deferred until June, after the May 5 election and the Canada visit of the Queen later in the month.

Charles would not like such a long postponement. He wants to get it all over as early as possible. All arrangements are also in place, so Saturday is the most likely date for the Royal wedding.

To make matters worse and deepen Charles's petulance towards the media, many royal journalists are also talking about Princess Diana's ghost creating all the problems. She would also be at the wedding feast, they say.

"Diana always said her marriage was a bit crowded because there were three people in it," said Judy Wade, royal correspondent for Hello magazine. "I think there will now be three people in Charles' second marriage.

"Diana would be laughing at the chaos and the damage it has done to the monarchy. She must be orchestrating it from on high -- all we need is for it to rain on the wedding day and we will know she is pulling the strings."

Most tabloid reporters who followed every twist and turn in the tragic soap opera that was her melodramatic life believe Diana would in the end have wished Charles well for finally tying the knot with Camilla.

Daily Mail royal correspondent Richard Kay, who last talked to Diana just hours before she was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997, said: "I think she had reached a point in her life where she had come to accept that Charles would be married.

"But she would find it hard to accept Camilla taking her place in the royal pecking order. She had anticipated them ending up together but with Charles standing aside and letting his son William take his place in the line of accession."

Daily Mirror royal reporter James Whitaker, who broke the story of her romance with Dodi Al Fayed, said: "Funnily enough, I think Diana would be quite happy about it. She understood towards the end that Camilla was the love of Charles' life." But he felt that Diana's influence would still be all pervasive on Charles and Camilla's big day.

"Comparisons are odious but they will be made. I do think she will be the ghost at the feast."