CAMILLA Parker Bowles will be given the title Princess of Wales when she marries Prince Charles on Friday, the government will announce tomorrow.

The title will be confirmed in a parliamentary statement in response to a question from Andrew Mackinlay, a Labour MP. It is likely to anger supporters of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

The disclosure, four days before the wedding, is potentially more embarrassing for Parker Bowles than the earlier admission that she will one day become queen. The title remains closely linked in the public mind to Diana, especially among those who blame Parker Bowles for ruining Diana’s marriage to Charles.

Parker Bowles has made it known that she wants to be called Duchess of Cornwall, taking another of Charles’s titles, after her marriage. It is planned that this will be changed to Princess Consort on his succession.

However, Chris Leslie, the constitutional affairs minister, will confirm tomorrow that she will be given all her husband’s titles. The list includes Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Earl of Chester, Lord of the Isles and Great Steward of Scotland.

Senior government sources say that it would take an act of parliament to change the law for Parker Bowles not to accept the titles.

A spokesman for the constitutional affairs department said yesterday: “There will be a statement in response to a parliamentary written answer on Monday.

“It is simple: she automatically takes the title Princess of Wales and all the other titles that go with her marriage to the Prince of Wales.”

Vivienne Parry, who worked closely with Diana for several years, was alarmed at the disclosure. “How crass! You have to take account of the nation’s sensibilities. To the nation, Diana, Princess of Wales was irreplaceable,” she said.

“I actually feel sorry for Camilla: to saddle the poor woman with this title imposes a burden on her she has not asked for and should not have to bear. It is not fair on her.”

Mackinlay, whose inquiries led to the government’s statement that Camilla would become queen if Charles succeeded to the throne, believes that parliament is the custodian of the constitution and that it is not the place of senior royal household members to tell the country what they would like people to be called.

“There has been a disquieting lack of candour throughout this,” he said last night.

“The decision over titles is the property of parliament. It does not belong to Clarence House or even to Buckingham Palace. The custodians of the constitution are parliamentarians.”

It has also emerged that Charles and Parker Bowles will kneel down and say a prayer of dedication aloud together during the service which will follow the civil ceremony on Friday.

In a reference to their former spouses they will offer “our thoughts and words and deeds, our love for one another”.

According to recent opinion polls, Britain is slowly warming to the affair between Charles and Camilla, with 43% of people saying they approve of the marriage of the two divorcees — although another survey found that the figure was as high as 65%. Last summer only 32% approved.

However, the polls show that the public is less keen on Parker Bowles getting a meaningful title or becoming queen. A poll last month found that just 7% thought she should be queen.

Critics of the recent actions of Charles’s household say that trying to hide the reality of what will happen on Friday has not helped to prepare the British public to accept the marriage.

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