Two couples who have been together for a very long time have put marriage back in the news, and I'm not talking about the product-placement extravaganza of the Trump nuptials in Palm Beach.
I'm talking first about Little Rock, Ark., where, on Monday, Gov. Mike Huckabee, who's contemplating a run for president, and his wife of 31 years, the former Janet McCain, entered into what's known as a "covenant marriage." The Huckabees' new, improved marriage differs from their previous one in that they agreed to undergo premarital counseling and have vowed to seek divorce only on grounds of near-biblical proportions.
Second, I'm talking about London, where, in a demonstration of romantic, not moral, values, 56-year-old Charles, the Prince of Wales, announced that Mummy had given him permission to make an honest woman out of his 57-year-old paramour, Camilla Parker Bowles.
In both cases, the marriages ratify relationships that have been underway for decades, but otherwise they appear to have little in common. The Huckabees, who lived in a double-wide trailer while waiting for the governor's mansion to be renovated, held their ceremony in a local sports arena. Gospel singer CeCe Winans performed. The bridegroom wore street clothes, the bride a red dress. Private donors covered the $65,000 cost. The crowd erupted in cheers when the Pulaski County clerk stamped the license, making it all official.
By contrast, Charles, who divides his time among his many palaces, will marry Camilla, a divorcee, for the first time after more than 30 years of pining. Camilla, who lives discreetly with Charles at Clarence House, where the prince performs his official, and apparently other, duties, never stopped believing that her prince would come despite his marriage to the virgin princess Diana (apparently under orders from his family).
Although the Church of England was founded on the principle that kings shouldn't have to behead their wives to remarry, the marriage at Windsor Castle will be a civil ceremony. The archbishop of Canterbury, who supports the union, will preside over a private service of prayer and dedication that will follow. Though some conservatives are outraged, most in the British establishment are relieved that the prince, who may yet be king and, therefore, Defender of the Faith, will not be living in sin.
