THE Prince of Wales’s forthcoming wedding is facing yet another embarrassing row — this time over the photograph chosen for the couple’s official engagement picture.

The image, which has also been used on the 68p air mail stamp, shows Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles in relaxed mood, smiling broadly and wearing similar forest green tweed suits.

But instead of inviting a famous portrait photographer to undertake the job, it was taken by the prince’s executive chef, Carolyn Robb.

She was summoned from the kitchen at Birkhall on the Balmoral estate in January and asked to take some quick snaps of the couple because they were wearing their “new set of tweeds”.

Robb only discovered that one of the three frames taken by her had been selected as the official photograph when it was released to the media.

The chef is reported to have complained that the photograph had been released without any agreement and that she retained the copyright.

“The people in Charles’s office have not dealt with this in a decent or professional fashion,” she is reported to have said.

“It is a classic example of how out of touch they are with reality. I feel bitterly disappointed, upset and insulted by the way I have been treated,” she told The Mail on Sunday.

A royal source said a settlement had later been reached with Robb involving a four-figure fee for the use of the photograph. The settlement also covers the use of the image by the Royal Mail on the commemorative stamp.

The South African-born chef first worked for the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and graduated to Charles’s kitchens in 1989. She left her post in 2000 but still cooks for the prince on special occasions.

“I have known the prince for many years and I have always had the utmost respect and admiration for him,” she is reported to have said.

“I am very fond of Mrs Parker Bowles , who is a wonderful lady. I have always been so loyal to them both. That is why this is so hurtful and upsetting to be treated in this way.

“I don’t blame Prince Charles and maybe he doesn’t know anything about it. It’s the people surrounding him who have created this situation.”

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