Public reaction mixed on royal wedding
 |  Reaction to news of the April wedding, to be held at Windsor Castle, above, has been mixed |
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 Britain's Prince Charles is to marry Camilla Parker Bowles.
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LONDON, England -- News of the royal marriage spread quickly to the hundreds of tourists gathered outside Buckingham Palace Thursday, but there were mixed views about the announcement.
Rita Tremain, 58, a retired teacher from Stafford, England, said: "I'm absolutely amazed, I'm gobsmacked. I cannot believe he's actually going to marry her. I do not think he can be king if he marries Camilla.
"I do not think she is the person you would want to be on the throne," she told the UK's Press Association. "He could do better. I do not think it should go ahead, definitely not. How could she possibly be queen?"
Tremain said she was not opposed to the idea of the prince remarrying, just his intention to marry Camilla. (Full story)
She said: "It just seems a bit hypocritical that she could be on the throne when she had an affair with Charles while he was married to Diana.
"I think (the marriage) could cause quite a lot of problems. And why so quickly? Why did they not say they would get married next summer?"
However, Lucy Pow, 19, from Adelaide, Australia, was more supportive and said Charles should be allowed to marry Camilla.
"Times change. If you really love someone why should you live you life in misery when you have got something that makes you happy? It is not really any of our business," she said.
"At the end of the day you cannot turn around and stop someone from doing what they want to do just because it upsets a few people."
Residents in the town of Tetbury, meanwhile, close to the Prince of Wales' home at Highgrove, were upbeat about the prospects of his marriage today, PA reported.
Marc Gibbons, general manager at the Snooty Fox Hotel, said: "Good for him. I have only just heard about this and the staff have been discussing it and are all supportive.
"Charles is quite often seen whizzing around here in his Aston Martin and he is regarded as being a local person.
"There is a village feel to Tetbury and people are generally protective of Charles and the boys, even when (Charles' son) Harry does silly things."
At The Two Toads tea and coffee shop, owner Ken Quatermass, said: "I think it is a very positive move. Why not?
"On moral grounds I do not have an issue with the marriage. I think that people should leave them alone to marry and live as they want."
But at the Cotswold Edge Golf Club, outside Tetbury, the reaction was less positive.
Estelle Johnson, the club secretary, told PA: "I think that Princess Diana is still very much liked and loved by many people and this could cause animosity towards Camilla."
Friends of the Prince of Wales have welcomed news of his impending marriage to Parker Bowles.
Conservative MP Nicholas Soames said he was "absolutely delighted" that the couple had announced they are to wed on April 8 at Windsor Palace.
"I'm very, very happy for both the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Parker Bowles. I think it's wonderful," he said.
