With the Royal Wedding only a week away, it's no wonder every media station, blogger, and newspaper is in a frenzy to get every single detail out to the public. The wedding is set for this Friday, April 29th and is to take place at Westminster Abbey. Fifteen royal weddings have taken place in Westminster Abbey since King Henry I and Princess Matilda of Scotland were married there on November 11th, 1100. These include the wedding of HM The Queen and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten in 1947, King George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes later to become the Queen Mother in 1923, Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986 and Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips in 1973.
The wedding is also going to be live-streamed to the web and broadcasted on public television. Miss Philippa Middleton, Catherine's sister, is to be her Maid of Honor while Prince Harry is to be Prince William's Best Man.
Around 1,900 people were invited to attend the Royal Wedding, a thousand of those being close friends and family of both Catherine and William, another 50 in regards to the British Royal family, 40 more from Foreign Royal Families and some 200 members of Government and Parliament officials. The cost is extravagant and is being paid for by both the Royal Family and the Government. At the end of their wedding service at Westminster Abbey, Prince William and Miss Middleton will travel in a 1902 State Landau along the Processional Route to Buckingham Palace. The route will include Parliament Square, Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade and The Mall. Should foul weather dawn the day of the wedding, the newlyweds will alight in The Glass Coach.
The couple will arrive separately to the event, Catherine traveling with her father in a Rolls Royce Phantom VI and Prince William traveling with his brother in a Bentley to the church. Afterwards, they will travel in a horse-drawn carriage to the reception lunch that is to be held by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. After this event the newlywed couple and their closest friends and family will go to a dinner hosted by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace.
Great interest was sparked over the ring that is to be given at the ceremony, and it was recently released that the ring is being made from gold that has been in the family and was given to Prince William by the Queen shortly after the couple's engagement. There will only be one ring in the ceremony and that is the one being given to Catherine by William.
Many people are sick of the wedding plans now, and many blogs and Facebooks are filled with people bashing the media for giving something like a wedding so much attention. I can personally claim that I am going to watch the wedding- if only so I can point out all the bits and pieces I now know after reading this 96 page informant.
For those that have a special interest in stalking the entire procedure of the wedding day and the events surrounding and following the 'hitch', go to the official website and download the 96 page word document that gives every single detail ever desired, including exact departure and arrival times of almost every royal guest, foreign diplomat, and guest attending the wedding.
