Bishop Apologizes for Dissing Wills and Kate

LONDON (Nov. 22) -- A Church of England bishop has issued a groveling apology after he suggested on Facebook that the upcoming marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton would last just seven years.

Pete Broadbent, the bishop of Willesden in northwest London, launched his online tirade Nov. 17 after being angered by the media's nonstop coverage of the couple's engagement.

"We need a party in [the French port of] Calais for all good republicans who can't stand the nauseating tosh that surrounds this event," he wrote on the social-networking site, before tearing into William's parents, Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. "I managed to avoid the last disaster in slow motion between Big Ears and the Porcelain Doll, and I hope to avoid this one too."

Broadbent proceeded to set out exactly why he loathes the monarchy -- even though Queen Elizabeth II, the supreme head of the Church of England, is technically his boss.

"History: more broken marriages and philanderers among these [royals] than not," the bishop fumed. "They cost us an arm and a leg. ... Talent isn't passed on through people's bloodstock. The hereditary principle is corrupt and sexist."

And he predicted that happy times weren't ahead for the lovebirds. "As with most shallow celebrities, they will be set up to fail by the gutter press," Broadbent declared. "I give the marriage seven years."

Those insults were quickly seized upon by the pro-royal sectors of the British press, and Broadbent was forced to make a public mea culpa.

"I have conveyed to Prince Charles and to Prince William and Kate Middleton my sincere regrets for the distress caused by my remarks," he said. "I recognize that the tone of my language and the content of what I said were deeply offensive, and I apologize unreservedly for the hurt caused."

He added, "I wish Prince William and Kate Middleton a happy and lifelong marriage, and will hold them in my prayers."

But Broadbent's embarrassment isn't over yet. The bishop might be in for an awkward encounter with William's angry grandmother on Tuesday, when the queen opens the Church's General Synod in London.