10:38am UK, Wednesday February 23, 2005

The Queen will not attend the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, it has been announced.

But Buckingham Palace has denied that the Queen is snubbing her son's wedding.

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Prince Charles and Camilla

The palace stressed that she would be going to the church blessing after the civil ceremony.

The couple are due to get married at the Guildhall in Windsor on April 8.

A Palace spokeswoman said: "The Queen's prime concern is that the civil ceremony should be as low key as possible, in line with the couple's wishes.

"Clearly if the Queen were to attend, the occasion would no longer be, by definition, low key."

Asked if it was a snub, the spokeswoman said: "The Queen is attending the service of dedication and paying for the reception - that is not a snub."

Prince William and Harry, along with Mrs Parker Bowles's children will be present civil ceremony.

Constitutional historian Dr David Starkey said the Queen's decision was "unprecedented" in Royal history.

"We are into unknown territories with this decision and one can only speculate on the reason why," he said.

"It could be security, that she doesn't approve or that she doesn't care, a position which would unite her with the majority of her subjects.

"There has been no real precedent of this, and let's remember we are dealing with the wedding of the heir to the throne, where there has been this kind of distance."

However, Royal expert Dickie Arbiter said the absence of the Queen from the civil ceremony was not something to get "terribly excited about".

He told Sky News the key part of the wedding would be the blessing by the Archbishop of Canterbury in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

"That will be part of the ceremony that will be important to Her Majesty," he said.

"The Queen, being a religious person, will see the blessing as the important part of this ceremony rather than the civil bit and signing two bits of paper in Windsor town hall.

"The blessing of the Archbishop of Canterbury puts the seal on the marriage as far as she is concerned."