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Prince of Wales will take wedding 'secret' to his grave

Legal advice that enabled the Prince of Wales to marry the Duchess of Cornwall must remain secret until after the heir to the throne’s death under a ruling by Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary.

Mr Straw has refused a Freedom of Information request to reveal the advice given to the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, who gave the 2005 royal wedding the go-ahead.

Doubts about the legality of the marriage persist because of the Marriage Act of 1836, which prohibited Royals from marrying in register offices.

Lord Falconer insists the subsequent 1949 Marriage Act “clearly intended to allow Royals to take part in civil weddings” but the information on which he based his final judgement has never been made public.

The Information Commissioner has refused an appeal against the Justice Secretary’s decision because of what he described as the “sensitivity and significance” of the information “given that it relates to the legality of the marriage of the heir to the Throne”.

Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)