TO begin with, it seemed the announcement of Prince Charles' marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles had been planned rather well.

The biggest areas of controversy - namely the possibility that Camilla would claim the title, Princess of Wales, or might one day be called Queen - were neatly side-stepped. But since then, it has descended into farce.

First, there was the embarrassment of having to change the venue from Windsor Castle to Windsor Guildhall because, unbelievably, the licensing implications hadn't been thought through.

And then came the revelation that the Queen won't be at the civil ceremony on April 8, although she will attend the blessing.

The official reason given by Buckingham Palace is that the Queen doesn't want to cause a fuss and that the ceremony should be as low-key as possible.

Whether the Queen is there or not, the heir to the throne will be marrying a divorcee - there is as much chance of it being low-key as there is of the Duke of Edinburgh suddenly becoming politically correct.

And any press advisor with an ounce of common sense would surely have been able to foresee how the Queen's announcement would be perceived. It was always going to stir up a huge fuss - the exact opposite of what she was apparently hoping to achieve.

As we said at the time of the wedding announcement, we wish Charles and Camilla well in their marriage.

We just wish the Royal Family would find someone capable of giving them some decent advice so the couple could get to the altar without slipping on banana skins