Wednesday, March 9 2005 10:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, and his long-time companion Camilla Parker Bowles received the green light yesterday (Mar 8, 2005) for their wedding next month after all formal legal objections against their union were dismissed.

Len Cook, Registrar General for England and Wales, said that he was "satisfied that none of these objections should obstruct the issue of a certificate" for the couple to marry at Windsor town hall, west of London, on April 8.

A spokeswoman at Clarence House, the office of Prince Charles, told agencies the royal couple were "pleased" that the marriage certificate could now be issued.

The main grounds for objection were that the law did not allow the prince to marry in a civil ceremony.

But Cook ruled that the relevant legislation, backed more recently by the European Convention on Human Rights and 1998 Human Rights Act, did not prevent the royal marriage.

If any objections had been upheld, his office said, no certificate of marriage could be issued and the prince would have to go to court to overturn the objection.

Under British law, anyone with a reason to oppose a wedding can issue a formal objection to the relevant registry office, which must investigate the claim and - if necessary - pass the matter along to the registrar general.

The deadline for formal objections passed on March 4.

Eleven were received by the registry office in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, southwest England, which covers Charles's countryside retreat of Highgrove, and in Chippenham, where the prince's divorced fiancee lives.