Could something still go wrong? How the Grand National, a courtier’s prank, a bout of sinusitis and an intervention from the Pope nearly derailed the Windsor wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles…

If it’s common knowledge that the path of true love has never been smooth, Prince Charles must be more painfully aware of that than most.

And something similar could apply to those trying to organize his wedding to Camilla in 2005.

For a while it seemed as if the entire ceremony was cursed.

The context was complicated to say the least, with continued hostility from those determined to blame Charles and the royal family for the failure of his “fairytale” marriage to Diana.

In January that year, Prince Harry had caused a stir by wearing an Afrika Korps uniform to a fancy dress party, which provoked great anger from Charles – some of it directed at older brother William for allowing this to happen (a point later addressed mentioned by Harry in his memoirs Spare).

Then the Evening Standard got wind of the impending wedding announcement and arranged for Clarence House to go public on February 10, earlier than intended. A civil ceremony was due to take place at Windsor Castle on April 8 – far away from the memories of St Paul’s and Diana.

Then came a major problem that no amount of apology could solve, as author Tina Brown recounts in her best-selling book The Palace Papers.

‘The fine print in the 1994 Marriage Act allowed marriages to be solemnized in certain “approved premises”. That said, if Windsor Castle was granted a license to host Charles and Diana’s civil wedding, it also meant that any old yobbo could also apply to be married in the Queen’s house.”

The venue was switched to the Guildhall in Windsor.

As head of the Church of England, Charles’ mother, the Queen, was already reluctant to attend a civil ceremony. And she certainly wasn’t planning on going to “a registry office on the high street,” as Brown puts it.

‘Queen snubs Charles’ wedding’ was just one of the inevitable headlines.

Charles blamed his private secretary Michael Peat. Peat blamed his deputy, who resigned.

So there was already tension in the air when Charles agreed to host a short photo opportunity and press conference with his sons on the slopes of Klosters in Switzerland – the tension was exacerbated by the continued presence of paparazzo photographers.

Not that it justified what followed. When the BBC’s respected royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell asked an (agreed upon) question of the heir to the throne, Charles responded with a haughty non-answer before privately explaining to William and Harry:

‘Damn people…I can’t stand that man. He’s so terrible. He really is.’

Unfortunately, the prince’s unnecessary comments were picked up by a microphone and then broadcast to the world. It was left to spokesman Paddy Harvey to apologise.

“Charles was distraught at the way the wedding was received,” Brown writes. He made frantic phone calls to his friends.

During a tour of Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, where he met Tsunami victims, the prince was rewarded with opinion polls saying almost 60 percent of Australians thought he should step aside for William.

Then just six days before the wedding day, the Pope, John Paul II, died.

“Seventy presidents and prime ministers, four kings, five queens and more than fourteen leaders of other religions were on the guest list,” Brown writes.

The Queen asked Charles to represent her at the funeral – scheduled for the day of his wedding! The wedding was postponed for 24 hours.

As the Daily Mail put it: ‘Could anything go wrong?

Now it would only clash with the Grand National, which was postponed so TV viewers could watch both.

But there were many more problems ahead: Camilla developed sinusitis – and was so ill that she genuinely feared she might not make it.

‘It must have felt as if Diana and the Queen Mother had joined forces from beyond the grave to rain down lightning bolts on her special day.’

Royal biographer Penny Junor wrote that it took four people to get Camilla out of bed.

‘In the end it was Annabel who settled the matter: “Okay, that’s fine. I’m going to do it for you. I’m going to get into your clothes.’

Only then did Camilla respond.

There was, of course, a perfectly happy conclusion. After taking a break from work to watch the Grand National, the Queen gave her speech and said there were two important announcements.

The first was that her horse Hedgehunter had won the Aintree race.

The second was that she was thrilled to welcome her son and his bride into the winners room.

“They overcame Becher’s Brook and The Chair and all kinds of other terrible obstacles,” she said.

“They came through and I’m very proud and wish them the best.

“My son is home and dry with the woman he loves.”