Prince Charles will marry his long-term partner Camilla Parker Bowles on 8 April, Clarence House says.

A civil ceremony, followed by a service of dedication, will be held at Windsor Castle. Mrs Parker Bowles will take the title HRH the Duchess of Cornwall.

When the Prince of Wales, 56, becomes King, 57-year-old Camilla will not be known as Queen Camilla but as the Princess Consort, Clarence House added.

Charles said he and his wife-to-be were "absolutely delighted".

The move will end years of speculation on a relationship which has spanned the decades since they first met in 1971.

The wedding will be a civil ceremony, which will be followed by a service of prayer and dedication in St George's Chapel at which the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will preside.

"The Duke of Edinburgh and I are very happy that the Prince of Wales and Mrs Parker Bowles are to marry," said the Queen, in a statement issued on her behalf by Buckingham Palace.

Charles was married to Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

The princess famously referred to Mrs Parker Bowles as one of the contributing factors in the breakdown of her marriage to Charles.

Read full coverage in tomorrow's Northern Echo. What are your views? Log on to our homepage and hit the Charles and Camilla hotspot.