Tuesday November 16 10:08 AM ET
Charles Plans Bring-A-Bottle New Year Bash
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Charles and his long-time lover Camilla Parker Bowles plan to see in the new millennium by throwing a modest
bring-a-bottle party for neighbors, the top-selling Sun tabloid reported on Tuesday.
It said the pair had rejected a flash bash in favor of a ''good old-fashioned get-together'' at the heir-to-the-throne's Highgrove estate in western England.
Guests would tuck into simple food cooked by Camilla, the Sun said.
``Invites have already been sent out, with the majority going to people living near the Gloucestershire mansion. Guests have been asked to bring some drink,'' it
said.
The Sun said Charles's two sons, Princes William, 17, and Harry, 15, would start and end the night at Highgrove.
``But in between they will host another party for their pals at a secret location,'' the tabloid said.
Last Saturday, an opinion poll showed Charles was winning the public relations battle to have Camilla accepted by the British public.
The poll, conducted by MORI for the Daily Mail, found almost half the public would be happy to see the couple marry and six out of 10 believed the relationship
should not stop the prince becoming king.
Charles has trodden a delicate public relations path since his marriage to Princess Diana ended in 1996 with admissions of adultery on both sides.
Diana's death the following year in a Paris car crash and the gradual emergence into the limelight of Camilla, who is also divorced, have had to be carefully handled.
Charles and Camilla began appearing in public together this year with a brief but much photographed appearance outside London's Ritz Hotel followed by a trip to
the theatre and a yachting holiday with their respective children.