I have already expressed my concern about the attempts to lead us by the nose into accepting Prince Charles' liaison with his mistress Camilla Parker Bowles.

But my, how the campaign is hotting up!

In recent weeks we have had pictures of her trotting dutifully to catch up with him after leaving church, turning up at the Queen Mother's funeral, Princess Margaret's commemoration service, dinner at Buckingham Palace and so on.

The message becomes more and more persistent: the Prince and his mistress are confident they are winning our hearts and minds as an acceptable couple.

And significantly, the Queen appears to be moving very delicately towards acknowledging Prince Charles's stance that the relationship is non-negotiable.

Well, that's just fine. When they eventually marry and settle down in his country home, Highgrove, where they already seem to be living together, I have no doubt they will be blissfully happy.

But that is where the story must finish. For with the mistress, who was right at the heart of his wrecked marriage to Princess Diana, as his new partner, he can never succeed his mother to become King.

And that is something he must learn is non-negotiable.

Soggy and indecisive an institution as it is, the Church of England cannot wring its hands in despair, wail about keeping up with changing times and morality and change the rules to allow marriage in church for divorcees.

Or even worse, bend the rules on this occasion just to accommodate the Prince and his mistress. The Church, for heaven's sake, is supposed to define the parameters of what is right and wrong.

Just in case you have already forgotten, the Prince's relationship with Mrs Parker Bowles started years before he met and married Princess Diana.

It apparently endured through the marriage, which is why the Princess so poignantly described it as "very crowded".

Today we are being led towards a situation in which he wants public approval of his activities, the Church's seal on his wedding and the throne, as well as becoming governor of the Church of England and leader of a multi-faith campaign.

A cynic might wonder why he bothered to marry Princess Diana in the first place, apart from the need for children.

The time-honoured way to resolve the Prince's dilemma is straightforward: A civil ceremony followed by a blessing in church. For the Church to agree to anything more formal would be a demeaning, theatrical sham.

The Duke of Windsor made the honourable choice in 1936 after saying he could not undertake the burden of kingship without the woman he loved. He abdicated and married the divorcee Mrs Simpson.

Prince Charles, rather like a spoiled child, wants everything. But not even he can have it all and the sooner he accepts this, the sooner he can retire to married bliss in the country.