Queen Camilla? No, Thank You

Charles and Camilla's quest to become man and wife has suffered a series of setbacks since they announced their plans to wed on April 8. There were questions of the legality of the civil ceremony, then the news that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh would not be attending.

Next, the venue had to be switched from Windsor Castle to Windsor's town hall when it emerged the castle was not licensed for weddings.

Now, a poll for Britain's Daily Mail newspaper has found that while most Britons want to retain the monarchy, few want Camilla Parker Bowles to become queen when Prince Charles eventually takes the throne. A whopping 73 percent said they don't believe Camilla should be queen, while 60 percent would even deny her the title Her Royal Highness.

The ICM poll found 65 percent of the 511 people quizzed over the phone believe the monarchy will be weakened by the impending marriage, up from just 49 percent when the wedding was announced six weeks ago.

The poll was conducted two days after Prime Minister Tony Blair's government confirmed that Camilla would officially become queen once Charles is king, although she will be known as Princess Consort.

Little public interest

Despite the presence in souvenir shops across the country of royal wedding paraphernalia such as tea towels bearing a smiling Charles and Camilla, interest in the nuptials among the British public is relatively low. Almost 70 percent of the poll's respondents said it was unlikely they'd watch the event on television, compared to around 30 percent who said they would.

Many Britons say they blame Camilla's long affair with Charles for the break-up of his first marriage to the hugely popular Princess Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in August 1997.