[133]           By now you probably have noticed how insistent ruling powers have always been, in intervening in all aspects of people's lives, so it won’t come as a surprise to you, that the most private feelings two people have for each other were also heavily regulated.

 

    At the time of Mary Burton Gulliver’s, rules obliged couples to register their impending union at the church archive. During the following three Sundays the upcoming marriage would be announced at the service, to enable contestants of this marriage to come forth and protest.

​

    The 'Marriage Act' was modified by Parliament a number of times throughout the ages, with the latest taking effect on October 1st  2012.

 

    It repealed the prohibition that forbade marriages to take place between 18:00 and 08:00.

 

    It took 7 years of debating to establish this change.

 

    The idea first struck lawmakers at the wedding ceremony of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker Bowles (April 9th, 2005, at 12:30) when they realised that this was not a broadcast prime time, and revenues from commercials suffered accordingly.