The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles were married today in a subdued but dignified royal wedding, finally setting a formal seal on a troubled romance which has lasted for more than 30 years.

Prince Charles and his bride, now to be known as the Duchess of Cornwall and the second most senior member of the Royal Family, were married at a private civil service in front of 28 guests at 12.30pm before attending a televised blessing at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle two hours later.

The new Duchess - more usually pictured in jodhpurs and riding jacket - surprised royal-watchers by switching dresses between the two services; exchanging a smart, oyster silk coat and a chiffon dress for an elegant porcelain-blue floor-length gown. Both outfits were deemed a success by both the crowds of well-wishers and royal fashion pundits.

Police said that around 15,000 people had gathered in the cobbled streets of Windsor to witness the occasion. But even the hard-core who had camped out overnight glimpsed little more than the flash of the couple's Phantom VI Rolls-Royce as it swept between the castle and the Guildhall register office.

The crowd reserved their biggest cheer for Princes William and Harry, who had arrived with other Royals in a minibus minutes earlier.

Clarence House had painstakingly choreographed the occasion to avoid comparisons with the 1981 state marriage of the Prince and Diana.

After 25-minutes the couple emerged from the dark red doors of the Guildhall and dashed past the waiting crowds with little more than a brief wave and a smile en route back to the castle.

The dedication service in the chapel was led by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and attended by around 800 guests, including all of the senior royals, family and friends and celebrities including the prime minister, Tony Blair, and the leaders of the two main opposition parties.

At the start of the blessing, the newly-weds knelt and said words from the Book of Common Prayer that included confessing their "manifold sins and wickedness".

Guests among the congregation included the actor Kenneth Branagh, who grinned at the couple as they walked past, and the singer Phil Collins. Broadcasters Jonathan Dimbleby and Sir David Frost were also in attendance.

There was a moment of awkwardness immediately afterwards when the wedding party had been expected to congregate on the steps of the chapel for their first official photograph together. Not only did the photo-call not take place, but the Queen, with practised stoicism, failed to make eye-contact with her new daughter-in-law.

As the guests filed out to meet the happy couple there were murmurs of approval. One lady, presumably a friend of the Duchess, was glowing about the bride’s appearance. As she passed through the doors of the chapel she quipped: "She scrubs up well, doesn’t she?"

The prince and the duchess then went on their first royal walkabout together as a married couple, meeting well-wishers who had been invited inside the castle grounds.

Throughout the day, there was little outward show of emotion. Poignantly, the couple did not kiss.

The ceremony marks start of a new chapter in both the couple's lives and in the life of the Royal Family: although Camilla technically assumes the status of the Princess of Wales, she has insisted she wishes to be known as Princess Consort when Charles succeeds the Queen.

The wedding, which has been beset by an almost farcical series of legal and constitutional hiccups in its preparation, which culminated in a 24-hour delay to avoid a clash with the funeral of Pope John Paul II, was being regarded as a low-key success.

"It's just two old people getting hitched," Camilla had reportedly recently joked to friends.

After a private reception, Charles and Camilla were due to fly to Scotland this evening to begin their honeymoon in their Highland hideaway Birkhall, on the Queen’s Balmoral estate.

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