Buckingham Palace insists the Queen's decision to be absent from the wedding of her son Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles is not a snub.

Despite statements from palace officials saying the Queen wants to respect her son's wishes to keep the ceremony low key, royal watchers are unconvinced.

"The wedding will be blessed in front of family and friends. There will be a lovely reception afterwards. The civil ceremony was always meant to be low key," said a spokesman for Clarence House, Charles' office.

The wedding, which is planned for April 8, will be a civil ceremony because the Church of England disapproves of ceremonies for divorcees whose spouses are alive.

Asked whether Prince Charles saw his mother's absence as a snub, the spokesman said: "No. They've discussed it and the prince is happy with the arrangements."

But some royal watchers have speculated that there may be some disagreements over planning arrangements.

"Clearly they did not ask the Queen beforehand about whether or not she would attend this ceremony, clearly they did not look into the legal implications in trying to hold the wedding ceremony in Windsor Castle, clearly they did not look at the legal implications at whether or not a royal could actually get married at a civil ceremony," CTV's Tom Kennedy reported from London.

"I think any parent would be a bit fed up with the way this has unfolded," former royal spokesman Dickie Arbiter told The Associated Press.

"When (the wedding) was announced there was a tremendous fanfare but the goalposts have moved considerably," he said, referring to a rushed move to change the venue from Windsor Castle to the Guildhall.

The decision was for practical reasons. If the castle was registered as a wedding venue, commoners would be able to wed at the location, under British law.

Yet others believe the Queen's absence is for security reasons.

"The legislation enforcing civil marriages insists that the doors be open to the public and therefore there are real security issues implicated here, of the Queen being present at an event in which anybody from the public could have attended," Rafal Heydel-Mankoo, Deputy Editor for Burke's Peerage and Gentry told CTV's Canada AM.

"And I think the Queen thought that this might attract people who could bring some element of disturbance to the event and therefore I think she wanted to maintain some sort of dignity and therefore chose quite wisely, I think, to stay away."

But Buckingham Palace officials would not comment on whether the change in venue resulted in the Queen's decision not to attend the ceremony.

On Tuesday, Buckingham Palace confirmed the Queen would be attending the church blessing of the marriage at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, but not the civil ceremony at the Guildhall, Windsor's town hall. Heydel-Mankoo said Prince Charles was told of his mother's decision last week at a private dinner.

A palace spokesman said she was going to be absent "because she is aware that the prince and Mrs. Parker Bowles wanted to keep the occasion low key."

"Clearly if the Queen were to attend, the occasion would no longer be, by definition, low key," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, British Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer issued a statement confirming that the civil service would be legal following speculation that royalty could not be married in civil weddings.

"The government is satisfied that it is lawful for the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Parker Bowles, like anyone else, to marry by a civil ceremony in accordance with Part III of the Marriage Act 1949," said Lord Falconer -- the most senior judge in the United Kingdom.

The love affair between Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles

Prince Charles, 56, divorced Princess Diana in 1996, a year before she was killed in a Paris car crash.

Parker Bowles, 57, was divorced from army officer Andrew Parker Bowles in 1995.

Parker Bowles was vilified by the public after tapes of intimate conversations between her and Prince Charles emerged in 1992 while he was still married.

In a 1994 television interview, Prince Charles admitted that he had been unfaithful during his marriage to Diana.

After Diana's death, Parker Bowles made tentative steps to win public approval by accompanying Prince Charles to galas and posing for official photographs with him. They now live together at his Clarence House residence in London.

A poll taken the same day Prince Charles announced his engagement said the majority of Britons approve of his decision to marry Parker Bowles, but most prefer his eldest son be Britain's next king.

Parker Bowles will not be known as Queen Camilla if Prince Charles should become King.

Rather, she will be known as Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall. If Prince Charles becomes King, she will be known as the Princess Consort.

The YouGov poll, published in The Daily Telegraph, said 65 per cent of respondents think the upcoming nuptials are a good idea. The number is much higher than in previous polls.

Eleven per cent of respondents had no opinion, but 24 per cent said the two shouldn't marry.

With files from the Associated Press