The Curse of Stuart

It's only taken 300 years, but the House of Stuart is truly on a roll after being shut out of the English royal succession. A little while ago we noted the news that the impending marriage of Prince Chazza to Camilla has proven to be a catalyst for legal reasoning that the portion of the 1701 Act of Settlement excluding royals who marry Catholics from the throne, has probably already lapsed. And there is new momentum to abolish the act its entirety.

That same wedding is subject to another inadvertent display of Roman power today -- scheduled for Friday, it is now being moved to Saturday so as not to clash with the Pope's funeral. As this BBC report makes clear, leaving aside the symbolism of the Windsors playing 2nd fiddle to the Papacy, there's the very practical matter of whether the Windsor registry office can accommodate Chazza and Camilla on the Saturday:

Speaking before Clarence House [Chazza's HQ] announced the postponement, Frances Foy, of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, said three weddings were due to take place on Saturday afternoon at Windsor's Guildhall.

But she said: "The morning is free, as is Sunday, so there are several possibilities."

Another council spokeswoman, Anne Dackombe, said the weddings scheduled for Saturday afternoon would not be moved. "The couples concerned have booked their weddings and that's when they want to have them, she said. "We wouldn't see that we could move those at all."

How can Private Eye's romance novel version of the story even keep up with all this material?

UPDATE 6 April: This Guardian writer also notes the historical symbolism of a royal wedding being postponed in deference to Rome.

2nd UPDATE 8 April: Another article using the historical angle on Chazza's postponed wedding, from the Wall Street Journal. Portrayed as the "revenge of the Vatican." We prefer our Stuart line.