TOURISTS and Royal Family fans are expected to queue for days for the chance to see the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles at Windsor Guildhall.

After Tuesday’s announcement that the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh would not attend the civil ceremony at the Guildhall, the guest list is looking slender. It has yet to be announced, but it is becoming clear that the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex and the Princess Royal will also not be present.

Prince William and Mrs Parker Bowles’s son Tom are expected to be the two witnesses.

The Queen will lead 700 guests at the blessing in St George’s Chapel, to be given by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. They will include European royalty, the Prime Minister, opposition leaders and celebrities.

A reception will follow in the State Apartments of Windsor Castle. Palace sources said yesterday, however, that it had always been the intention to serve only a finger-food buffet.

This week the Rev Paul Williamson, a vociferous traditionalist Anglican cleric, lodged a formal legal objection to the wedding with the Registrar General’s department. He said that he would join people at the Guildhall and raise his objection when the registrar asked if there were any just impediments to the marriage.

But any member of the public hoping to attend the ceremony itself is likely to be disappointed. A spokesman for the Office of National Statistics, which deals with civil marriages, said yesterday that although in principle there was an “open door” policy in such cases, other factors would be taken into account.

“The idea of allowing the public in was to prevent clandestine marriages taking place,” she said. “Similarly there are the rules about marrying in the hours of daylight, so people can see who the parties are.”

This time, however, there would be issues of “space and security, together with the need to consider health and safety regulations”, she said.

“If there was not enough room, invited guests would have priority.”

Clarence House is actively looking for loopholes in the Marriage Act clause which insists that members of the public be allowed access to a civil ceremony so that they can raise objections.

Organisers are aware of the potential for disruption at a service that has split the Anglican community as well as that dwindling section of the population which cares either way.

“We are well aware of the public interest; we will have to ensure that it happens in the right way,” a Clarence House source said, implying that the Prince and Mrs Parker Bowles would prefer to be married in private.

STATEMENT BY LORD FALCONER

“We are aware that different views have been taken in the past; but we consider that these were over-cautious . . . the Human Rights Act has since 2000 required legislation to be interpreted wherever possible in a way that is compatible with the right to marry (Article 12) and with the right to enjoy that right without discrimination (Article 14). This, in our view, puts the modern meaning of the 1949 Act beyond doubt”

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