Queen thinks Charles puts personal life before duty

Royal courtiers, quoted by The Sunday Telegraph, also said privately that the queen is "lukewarm" about the marriage and worried it could tarnish the monarchy itself.

It was announced last Tuesday that the queen and her husband Prince Philip would miss her son's April 8 civil marriage ceremony with Camilla Parker Bowles at Windsor town hall in deference to their wishes for a "low-key" event.

The courtiers told the newspaper that Prince Charles' private office had been outmaneuvered by Buckingham Palace, the queen's official residence in London.