The trio of public soundings could make depressing reading for Charles and Camilla, who are enjoying their Scottish honeymoon after they married in a civil ceremony that Queen Elizabeth refused to attend as titular head of the Church of England.

The middle-aged divorcees finally tied the knot in the windswept riverside town of Windsor on Saturday after a 35-year romance, prompting tabloids to agree on the same headline: ?At Last...?

?The former Mrs Parker Bowles has pulled off the impossible and married arguably the most eligible man in the land?, said the prince?s former key aide Mark Bolland. ?Camilla has seen off all her enemies.?

Andrew Morton, Diana?s confidant who revealed the breakdown of her marriage to Charles, advised Camilla that longevity was now the best bet for the 57-year-old mother of two.

?Simply stick around?, he said. ?Half the trick of royalty is becoming part of the furniture, from figure of fun or hate to national treasure.?

The House of Windsor, beset by years of scandal, divorce and tragedy, is now eager to gauge just how much the British would forgive the woman blamed by many for breaking up Charles? marriage to the ill-fated Princess Diana.

Royal aides believe the vilified Camilla will gradually win round public opinion but it will be a tough task, especially when Charles inherits the throne.

<B>Diana?s spitting image</B>

Though people were often indifferent about the future of the 1,000-year old monarchy, the Sunday Times, Observer and Sunday Mirror polls showed they were generally supportive of the wedding.

But most believed it would be best for the succession to pass directly to William, the spitting image of Diana.

The Sunday Times poll conducted by YouGov showed the wedding had done nothing to increase the popularity of Charles, whose wedding arrangements were jinxed by a series of setbacks and mishaps.

By a three to one majority, people thought William would make a better king than his father. ?There is an increased public feeling that it should skip a generation?, YouGov pollster Peter Kellner told Reuters.

?I don?t think there would be rioting in the streets if Charles becomes king but it is not their preference?, he added.

The Sunday Mirror poll showed that the number of King William supporters had rocketed from 34 to 43 % in the last three years. The Sunday Telegraph poll, conducted over the last three days including the wedding day, showed that 42 % preferred William as the next monarch.

All soundings were unanimous in demonstrating a deep-seated distrust of Camilla becoming queen. At a stroke on Saturday, the newly titled Duchess of Cornwall became the second most senior female member of the royal family after the queen.

That prompted the Sunday Times to conclude: ?It seems clear that Charles needs a woman such as the new Duchess of Cornwall to help him navigate a modern Britain with which he seems ill at ease.?

<B>Paul MAJENDIE</B>

UK ROYAL MARRIAGES

<B>The successes and failures</B>

■ Saturday?s wedding was the sixth of the queen?s children. Here are some key facts :

<B>? PRINCE CHARLES -</B> The 1981 wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer relieved the gloom of recession. Diana was one of the most high-profile royals. Charles and Diana divorced in 1996. Diana and her companion Dodi Al Fayed died in 1997 in a car crash in Paris.

<B>? PRINCESS ANNE -</B> The queen?s only daughter, Charles?s younger sister Anne, married Captain Mark Phillips in 1973. The couple had two children, Peter, the queen?s first grandchild, in 1977 and Zara in 1981. The marriage broke down in 1989 and they were divorced. In 1992, Anne married one-time royal aide Timothy Laurence, now a rear-admiral.

<B>? PRINCE ANDREW -</B> Charles?s brother the Duke of York married high-spirited publishing executive Sarah Ferguson in 1986. The marriage fell apart in 1992 after the publication of photographs showing the duchess in the arms of another man, Texan John Bryan.

<B>? PRINCE EDWARD -</B> He is the only one of her children who has yet to divorce.