It was a marriage for the history books but the bride and groom soon discovered that even royalty has to play by some rules.
When King Charles and Queen Camilla announced their engagement in February 2005, they said almost straight away that they would marry in April in a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle. They also announced they would have their union blessed later that same day in a service at St. George’s Chapel. Just a week later, they had to rearrange their civil ceremony – but why?
It all came down to the terms of a licence. Until the mid-1990s, civil marriages in England and Wales could only be held in register offices. The Marriages Act 1994 allowed these ceremonies to take place in other buildings, like castles, as long as the venue is licenced. Windsor Castle wasn’t licenced and almost as soon as applications began to allow this royal wedding to take place within its ancient walls, a rather large problem arose.
The terms of a licence state that the venue must ‘’be regularly available to the public for the solemnization of marriages’’. If the couple did get the go ahead to hold their civil wedding at Windsor Castle then, for the next three years, the ancient building had to be open to others to say ‘I do’ there as well.
Which is why, on February 17th 2005, the couple announced they would instead get married at the nearby Windsor Guildhall in the town’s High Street. It’s not far from Castle Hill which leads to the royal residence and it’s steeped in history. The 17th century Grade I listed building was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and restored in the 19th century. King Charles and Queen Camilla wed in the smaller of the two locations available for civil marriages, the Ascot Room, and their marriage is now included in the venue’s story on the local authority’s website.
Since then, a lot has changed. Civil marriages now account for the majority of weddings in England and Wales and there are thousands of venues licensed for ceremonies including several present and former royal homes. Kensington Palace has a licence as do Hampton Court Palace, Kew Palace and the Banqueting House. But not Windsor Castle. The only weddings that take place there are religious ceremonies with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank among the recent couples to say ‘I do’ there.
In fact, Windsor Castle could soon be playing catch up to another royal residence when it comes to weddings. Balmoral Castle has just put in an application to Aberdeenshire Council to be allowed to hold weddings in its Queen’s Building. However, any ideas for holding civil marriages at one of the oldest castles in the world, Windsor, remain firmly on ice.
