Lord Goldsmith QC will consider whether the government needs to pass a bill before April 8 to enable the couple to marry in a civil ceremony.
His action coincides with warnings by one former attorney-general and two other former senior law officers that the ceremony may not be valid.
According to Dr Stephen Cretney QC, in a written opinion submitted last week to Goldsmith, members of the royal family are barred by the Marriage Act 1836 from marrying in a civil ceremony.
This exclusion, Cretney argues, was updated in every subsequent amending statute, including the Marriage Act 1949 which governs civil weddings today. Cretney, an emeritus fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, recommends a “simple bill putting beyond doubt the capacity of members of the royal family to contract civil marriages”.
Sources close to Goldsmith said he would respond directly to Cretney but said there could be no comment on whether the palace had asked for fresh advice.
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This weekend one former attorney-general endorsed Cretney’s argument. He said: “If I was advising the Queen now, I think I’d have the legislation clarified. It could be passed through both houses in about five minutes.”
The palace remains adamant that the wedding was endorsed ahead of the announcement by four independent experts. Paul Williamson, a parish priest at St George’s, Hanworth, west London, will lodge a formal objection tomorrow to force the palace to publish the legal advice.
Additional reporting: Christopher Morgan