Prince Charles is to marry his partner Camilla Parker Bowles, the prince’s office said on Thursday.
The prince will marry Parker Bowles on Friday April 8, his official residence in London confirmed on Thursday.
It also said Parker Bowles will be known as the Princess Consort, and not Queen Camilla, once Prince Charles becomes the British monarch.
House of Commons Leader Peter Hain was to make a statement to the British Parliament late on Thursday about the marriage, which will take place about a month before an expected general election.
Charles was previously married to Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. She was divorced from Charles when she died.
The marriage is a sensitive issue because Parker Bowles is divorced and her former husband is still alive. Charles will be the supreme governor of the Church of England if he takes the throne, and some Anglicans remain opposed to the remarriage of divorcees.
The church is officially neutral on the issue, but former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey recently urged the couple to marry.
Last year, a poll indicated that more Britons support Prince Charles marrying Parker Bowles than oppose it. Thirty-two percent of respondents to the Populus poll said they will support Charles if he remarries, while 29% were opposed.
Thirty-eight percent said they didn’t care and two percent had no opinion.
On Thursday, however, 70% of respondents to a snap Sky News poll said they oppose Prince Charles marrying Parker Bowles.
Only 30% approved the wedding plans, according to the survey that was conducted within 90 minutes of the announcement that the couple will tie the knot.
Sky News conducts its snaps survey using digital interactive technology, with viewers invited to respond to questions using their television remote controls at home. — Sapa-AP, Sapa-AFP