Buckingham Palace has been caught up in a row over plans by MPs to allow same-sex weddings in Parliament.

Buckingham Palace dragged into row 

over gay marriage in Parliament

By Edward Malnick

It is being consulted after the first challenge to the Church of England’s exemption from having to carry out the ceremonies was brought by a group of MPs.

In a highly symbolic move they are demanding that Parliament’s chapel be used for gay marriages.

The demand has the support of John Bercow, the Speaker, putting him in opposition to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, who is being kept informed of the row by parliamentary officials.

The Archbishop, who warned last week that allowing gay couples to marry would damage the fabric of society, is said to understand the “potential for the issue to develop and escalate”.

The Telegraph has obtained correspondence which shows that the Queen’s private secretary, Sir Christopher Geidt, is also being consulted over the possibility of permitting same-sex marriages in St Mary Undercroft, the Anglican chapel in the Palace of Westminster.

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Such a move would be highly controversial because the Church of England will be exempt from the new gay marriage legislation, with such weddings not permitted on its properties.

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