The mounting public belief that this weekend’s British royal wedding is jinxed was further bolstered on Thursday by the news that the ceremony is to face yet another setback — unseasonably wintry weather.
Temperatures in Windsor, where Prince Charles and long-time companion Camilla Parker Bowles will wed on Saturday, are forecast to dip below freezing the night before, bringing a distinctly chilly start to the lunchtime event.
Charles and Camilla can expect ”a cold start to the day, with possibilities of frost around”, Colin McAllister said from Britain’s Meteorological Office in London.
Although temperatures will rise later towards a tepid 12 Celsius, the pair can also expect patchy rain at some point.
The planned wedding has been plagued by a series of mishaps, with the wedding venue changed following a misreading of marriage laws and Charles’s mother Queen Elizabeth II then deciding not to attend.
Earlier on Thursday, security at Windsor Castle, the venue for a post-marriage blessing, was exposed after a tabloid newspaper said one of its reporters had driven a rented van into the castle grounds carrying a box marked ”bomb”.
However, one other hitch — the last-minute decision to move the ceremony from Friday to Saturday so as not to clash with Pope John Paul II’s funeral — might end up being a boon, McAllister said.
”Had they stuck to the initial wedding date, it would have been a whole different kettle of fish” weather-wise, he explained.
While Saturday will be chilly, the previous day in Windsor, just west of London, is expected to be even worse, with cold northern winds and temperatures plummeting to 6-7 Celsius. — Sapa-AFP