Royal newlyweds vow to be faithful
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 VIDEO |
 Newlyweds Charles and Camilla are greeted by cheering crowds.
 Charles and Camilla proclaim their devotion to each other during the blessing ceremony.
 Charles and Camilla arrive at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
 Charles and Camilla leave the Guildhall after their civil wedding ceremony.
 CNN's Paula Hancocks on long history and relationship between Charles and Camilla.
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WINDSOR, England (CNN) -- A solemn ceremony has blessed the wedding of the heir to the British throne Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall, at which the couple each pledged to be faithful to each other.
About 750 guests -- the royal family and the famous -- gathered at St. George's Chapel in Windsor to watch the Church of England wedding blessing for the royal couple, who married a couple of hours earlier nearby in a quiet civil ceremony.
The blessing ceremony, which had the feel of a wedding and was aired across the globe, conjured memories of the 1981 day when millions of television viewers watched Prince Charles marry Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral in what has become part of royal lore as a "fairy-tale" wedding.
That storybook Charles-Diana wedding ceremony, which captivated the world, contrasted in sad irony with what followed -- a tempestuous marriage and separation of Charles and the now-late Diana, Princess of Wales, that shocked and appalled all of England and royal-watchers everywhere.
The memory of the drama haunts the big Saturday marriage, in which the prince exchanged marriage vows with Camilla Parker-Bowles, his longtime and publicly disliked mistress.
The pair -- both divorced and in their 50s -- married in a modest, private civil ceremony in Guildhall outside Windsor Castle, in nuptials limited to nearly 30 guests and the children of the bride and the groom.
They emerged from the ceremony smiling and waving at the many well-wishers on the streets.
There was no public kiss or embrace, The Associated Press reported.
Then, they were whisked away to St. George's Chapel, where they stood silently before the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.
The archbishop's talk of "love and faithfulness" contrasted with the adultery the pair, as well as the late Diana herself, displayed over the years.
In the wedding blessing, the couple recited a line of repentance from the Book of Common Prayer, the inclusion of which is seen as an acknowledgment of their prior adultery.
"We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, by thought, word and deed, against thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us.
"We do earnestly repent and are utterly sorry for these honest doings. The remembrance of them is grievous unto us. The burden of them intolerable."
At one point in the service, Williams asks the couple, first Charles and then Camilla, to be faithful to each other in their marriage and understand the covenant of marriage and recited words common in Western marriage ceremonies -- "for richer for poorer" and "for better for worse" and "till parted by death."
Both were asked if they will have "resolved" to be faithful" and "forsake all others" as long as they live. And they both said separately "that is my resolve with the help of God."
Then they touched hands and the archbishop said "let the rings" they were wearing be symbols of faithfulness.
The church hymns and prayers dominated the service, with the royal couple facing the archbishop and listening to his words on marriage.
Relaxed couple
Charles's mother, Queen Elizabeth II -- who did not attend the civil wedding ceremony in Windsory Guildhall, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of London, went to the church blessing with her husband Prince Philip.
The service ended with the gathering singing "God Save the Queen" as the camera zoomed in on the stoic Queen Elizabeth II. Then, the royal couple walked out of the chapel arm in arm, followed by the queen, her husband and other family members.
Applause greeted the couple, and Camilla had to keep hand on her hat to keep the wind from sweeping it off her head. The royal couple shook hands with well-wishers, and the queen and Prince Philip got in a car and were driven away.
Royal watcher Robert Jobson said Prince Charles seemed relaxed after the service. "He looked like a huge weight had lifted from his shoulders," he told CNN.
"Camilla, who looked petrified before the wedding, also seemed relieved it was all over. They walked among the friends in the crowd, so there was no chance of any hostile encounters."
The queen gave a two-hour reception, and then the couple left for Scotland, where they will have a honeymoon at Balmoral. (Full story)
Crowds, many waving Union Jacks, lined the streets of Windsor on a sunny, breezy spring afternoon to mark the historic occasion, helping to recall the 1981 day when millions of television viewers watched the prince marry Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral in what has become part of royal lore as a "fairy-tale" wedding.
The people, huddled behind cordons, were widely well behaved -- except for one man. An apparent streaker, who was seized and covered by police officers, who walked him away.
Charles's wedding plans were dogged by hitches since he announced in February he was to marry Camilla in a civil ceremony. Some constitutional experts even questioned the legality of the pair marrying outside of a church.
Their wedding venue was switched following a mixup over marriage licenses and then had to be rescheduled from Friday to avoid a clash with the funeral of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.
In yet one more controversy to besiege the 56-year-old prince, he received widespread criticism for shaking hands at the funeral with Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president whose draconian regime is considered one of the world's most brutal. (Full story)
'Manifold sins'
Camilla will technically be the Princess of Wales -- a title she wishes to avoid using, in deference to memories of Diana. Camilla will be known, instead, as the Duchess of Cornwall.
When Charles takes the throne, his wife legally will be queen, but wishes to be known as Princess Consort -- a bow to opinion polls that show 70 percent of the population opposed to Queen Camilla.
Charles and Camilla, 57, have known each other for decades and have courted over the years. He met Camilla Shand at a polo match in 1970. A year later, Charles joined the Royal Navy, and drifted apart from his girlfriend.
In 1973, she married a longstanding admirer, army officer Andrew Parker Bowles. While she and Charles remained friends, Charles's wedding to Diana seemed to put an end to their romance.
But things had not been rosy between Charles and Diana, and they separated in 1992.
The same year, recordings of some amorous discussions between Charles and a woman widely assumed to be Parker Bowles came to light.
In a 1995 interview, Diana told the BBC that "there were three of us in this marriage" and conceded her own infidelity. The royal couple divorced in 1996. Parker-Bowles and her husband divorced in 1995.
Diana died in a 1997 auto accident in Paris in an accident that shocked the world and sparked widespread grief.
It was 1999 before Charles made a public appearance with Parker Bowles as his companion, and her public profile has been carefully cultivated in a not-altogether successful attempt to ingratiate her with Britons.
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
