The Royal Wedding
On the 29th April 2011 Prince William is to be married to Kate Middleton – if you didn’t already know this then where have you been? Everyone seems to be going mad with Royal Wedding Fever and why shouldn’t we celebrate when we get a bank holiday to mark the occasion. This bank holiday falls nicely between Easter and the May Bank holidays so we will be getting a succession of three 4-day weekends in a row.
The couple are said to have been inspired by the Queens wedding by choosing the historic Westminster Abbey to host their ceremony. Westminster Abbey has also hosted the wedding of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, in 1923 as well as the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.
According to the BBC News “the couple chose the Abbey for its staggering beauty, 1,000-year royal history and its feeling of intimacy despite its size.” The couple have said that they’d like their wedding to be less of a state occasion and a more traditional celebration.
Kate Middleton is said to be arriving at Westminster Abbey by car, where the service will take place at 11am by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
After the service at Westminster Abbey the couple will return to Buckingham Palace where the Queen will hold a wedding reception for the couple and their guests. This will be followed by a private dinner dance, hosted by The Prince of Wales, for close family and friends
On their journey from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace, the Royal Couple will pass Parliament Square, Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade and The Mall.
Once the couple are married they have been invited by Her Majesty The Queen to share Buckingham Palace with her as their official London residence. If they accept the offer they will be given a large self contained section within Buckingham Palace. Prince Charles has also offered to let Prince William and Kate renovate one of his apartments at St James Palace.
There is some speculation that Prince William will choose St James Palace because he would prefer to make life as “normal” as possible after the wedding.
Invitations to the big day have now been sent out and include ‘A’ list celebrities such as David & Victoria Beckham. Other guests will include people that Prince William has met on official business or encountered through his charity work, as well as family and friends of the Royal Couple.
There will also be representatives from foreign Royal Families, Government, Parliament, the Commonwealth and the Armed Forces.
President Obama will not be invited because William is not first in line to the throne and the Royal Wedding is not an official state occasion.
Although the couple will have over 1,000 guests at their wedding only 600 of them have been invited to the lunchtime reception by The Queen, with as few as 300 being invited to the private dinner hosted by Prince Charles.
Some of the guest list for:
“the Marriage of His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales KG with Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on Friday 29 April, 2011 at 11.00am”
The Royal Set
- The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh
- Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall
- Princess Anne and Timothy Laurence
- Prince Andrew
- Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex
- Prince Harry
- Princess Beatrice and boyfriend Dave Clark
- Princess Eugenie
- Lady Kitty Spencer
Kate’s family and friends of the Royal Couple
- Michael and Carole Middleton, Kate’s parents, owners of Party Pieces
- James Middleton, Kate’s brother
- Pippa Middleton, Kate’s sister
- Gary Goldsmith, Carole’s brother and black sheep of the family. William and Kate have stayed at his villa in Ibiza
- Alicia Fox-Pitt, one of Kate’s oldest friends who persuaded her to join the Sisterhood charity boat race
- Ben Fogle, TV presenter, and his wife Marina
- Tom Bradby, ITN political editor, and his wife Claudia, who designs jewellery and worked with Kate when she was an intern at Jigsaw
- Drummond Money-Coutts, Magic Circle member
- Emily Bevan, friend from St Andrews
Cabinet Ministers
- David Cameron, Prime Minister
- Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister
- George Osborne, Chancellor
- Ed Miliband, Leader of the Labour Party
Many people are arranging street parties and other celebrations, if you have plans in Maidstone please share them with us by e-mailing: info@activmaidstone.com
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