As Prince Charles begins his summer holiday at Birkhall this week, he can relax, knowing his plans to win recognition for Camilla Parker Bowles as his partner are forging ahead.

Last week another obstacle in their path melted away when Earl Spencer declared he would not object if his former brother-in-law remarried.

Admitting that he no longer had any contact with the Prince of Wales, Lord Spencer said: “I have always thought it was none of my business at all what he did with his private life.”

Is Prince Charles really planning to marry Camilla Parker Bowles 20 years after his first wedding? The “Will they-won’t they” question keeps popping up and the Prince’s office no longer issues the categorical denials it once did.

Days after he kissed Camilla in public for the first time, Prince Charles dropped a heavy hint that a second marriage was more than a possibility. It wasn’t what he said, but what he didn’t say that caused a sensation. When asked in an interview if he planned to marry again, he pointedly declined to deny it. Instead, he replied: “Will I be alive tomorrow? Who knows what the good Lord has planned? You can’t be certain about anything.”

For more on Charles and Camilla and their prospects for marriage, see this week’s HELLO! magazine, on sale now.