Royal wedding to make Kate top UK girls' name

Kate is likely to be one of the most popular names for baby girls born in Britain next year following the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton, an ancestry website predicted Thursday.

Ancestry.co.uk found that 230 million birth and marriage records dating from 1837 revealed a royal wedding naming pattern which saw popularity for names of princesses rise dramatically in the years they married.

Read more at Reuters.

Snoop Dogg Pens Song For Royal Wedding

Controversial American rapper SNOOP DOGG has dedicated his new single to PRINCE WILLIAM and insists that he recorded the track specifically to celebrate the engagement of the British royal to KATE MIDDLETON.

28-year-old PRINCE WILLIAM announced last month that he is to marry long-time girlfriend Middleton in London next year, and his brother PRINCE HARRY was reported to be organising a bachelor party featuring a performance from SNOOP DOGG.

Read more at contactmusic.com

The Science Museum look back at royal wedding memorabilia from days gone by

Oh we all love a royal wedding. With memorabilia manufacturers wasting no time to issue commemorative souvenirs featuring Prince William and his future missus, Kate Middleton, it’s an opportune moment to examine a few monarchical mementoes from our own collections…

Read more from the Science Museum

'I 3D wed': William and Kate's nuptials could be screened using new technology

Prince William and Kate Middleton intend to make their wedding a people's event and on April 29 the happy couple may seem close enough for you to reach out and touch them.

Broadcasters are considering plans to screen the royal wedding in 3D.

Read more at the Daily Mail

Prince William and Catherine Middleton make mugs of the merchandise manufacturers

St James's Palace's insistence on Kate Middleton being known as Catherine Middleton has an unfortunate consequence.

When the Prince of Wales married his first wife, the late Diana, Princess of Wales – then Lady Diana Spencer – there was a good trade to be done in mugs emblazoned with their initials "C" and "D".

The one problem with Buckingham Palace insisting that Prince William's fiancée should be referred to as Catherine Middleton is that Mandrake can't honestly see even the most ardent of royalists feeling altogether comfortable drinking from mugs with the letters WC written on them.

Read more at telegraph.co.uk

Sharing a wedding day with Will and Kate

Prince William and Kate Middleton are not the only ones tying the knot on 29 April 2011. So what's it like sharing a wedding day with such a famous couple?

Robert Ashby and Angela Smith, a happily-betrothed couple from Birmingham, are already referring to 29 April as "our day"...

Read more at BBC News

David Cameron ignores calls to rearrange alternative vote referendum over royal wedding date

David Cameron yesterday rejected calls to postpone the referendum on voting reform because it will now clash with the royal wedding.

The national election on changing the polling system will be held just six days after Prince William and Kate Middleton's big day.

Read more at mirror.co.uk

Prince William and Kate Middleton could honeymoon in Queensland

The Melbourne-based Herald Sun is reporting that Prince William and Kate Middleton might be planning to honeymoon on the islands of North Queensland, Australia.

Australia is not the bookies favourite for the royal couple's first holiday as man and wife, with many experts tipping Kenya, where Prince William proposed to his fiance.

Full story.

Prince William - Prince William And Kate Middleton To Invite Public To Wedding

Prince William and Kate Middleton plan to invite 100 members of the British public to their wedding in London's Westminster Abbey next year while Prince Harry will take on the role of Supporter.

Prince William and Kate Middleton will invite 100 members of the public to their wedding via a random draw.

Read more at contactmusic.com

Royal couple 'over the moon'

Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry April 29 in Westminster Abbey, the historic London church where Princess Diana's funeral was held.

Royal officials said Tuesday that the couple chose the venue for its beauty, intimacy and historic royal connections, and the date because they wanted a spring wedding. It also the feast day of St. Catherine of Siena, whose name Middleton shares — though that is a coincidence.

Prince William's private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, said the couple chose the 1,000-year-old abbey in central London because despite its size — it holds 2,200 people — it has a sense of intimacy.

"Even at the altar, it seems like a parish church," he said.

It also has centuries of royal history. William's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and her mother both married at the abbey, where British kings and queens are crowned.

William and Kate decided against celebrating their nuptials at St. Paul's Cathedral, where William's parents married in 1981.

The palace said the royal family and the Middletons would cover the costs of the nuptials, apart from security. There have been grumbles about the propriety of holding a lavish royal bash in the midst of economic austerity.

"All parties involved in the wedding, not least Prince William and Miss Middleton, want to ensure that a balance is struck between an enjoyable day and the current economic situation," Lowther-Pinkerton said.

He said the guest list had not been finalized, but that "we will have a full church."

He said William and Kate were playing "a very active role" in planning the day.

"We know that the world will be watching on the 29th of April, and the couple are very, very keen indeed that the spectacle should be a classic example of what Britain does best," he said.

"The couple are completely over the moon," Lowther-Pinkerton added. "They are on cloud nine."

Royal Wedding will be Bank Holiday

The Prime Minister has announced that the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton will be a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Prime Minister issued the following statement: "The wedding of Kate and William will be a happy and momentous occasion. We want to mark the day as one of national celebration, a public holiday will ensure the most people possible will have a chance to celebrate on the day.

The costs of the wedding itself will be met by the Royal Household, with Government meeting any wider security or transport related costs."

Wedding Date - Official Announcement

An official announcement has just been made by the Royal Family:

The marriage of Prince William and Miss Middleton will take place at Westminster Abbey on Friday 29th April 2011.

The Royal Family will pay for the wedding, following the precedence set by the marriages of The Prince and Princess of Wales in 1981 and Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1947.

Royal wedding set for Westminster Abbey in April

Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry on Friday 29 April at Westminster Abbey, Clarence House has announced.

The couple, both 28, met at St Andrews University, Fife, and got engaged while on holiday in Kenya in October.

William proposed to Kate with his mother Diana's diamond and sapphire engagement ring.

Westminster Abbey has hosted the weddings of the Queen and Queen Mother and was the venue for Princess Diana's funeral in 1997.

Read more at BBC News

Westlife - Westlife Want To Play At Royal Wedding

"Boy band WESTLIFE are desperate to perform at British royal PRINCE WILLIAM and his bride KATE MIDDLETON's big wedding next year (11) - because "every artist in the world" would want to perform at the high profile event.

The couple announced wedding plans last week (16Nov10) after revealing the romantic prince had proposed to his girlfriend in Kenya".

Read more at contactmusic.com

Bette Midler Says Prince William Should Elope

Singer and actress Bette Midler has come up with some advice for Prince William and Kate Middleton - elope to the south of France.

The award-winning star told Sky News: "They should elope, run off and be married in Marseille. Times are hard - it's enough."The award-winning star told Sky News: "They should elope, run off and be married in Marseille. Times are hard - it's enough."

Read more at Sky News

Prince William's secret engagement

Prince William kept the news of his engagement to Kate Middleton from some of his closest advisors until just hours before the announcement was made to the world. His desire to keep his personal life from Royal Family officials is a distinct contrast to his grandmother the Queen's more open relationship with her staff.

Story from CBS.

Dudley Zoo names new penguin chicks William and Kate

Keepers at Dudley Zoo are celebrating the royal engagement by naming two rare baby penguins after Prince William and Kate Middleton.

One of the Humboldt chicks was born on the day the announcement was made and the other had hatched ten days earlier.

Read more at bbc.co.uk

Prince William involved in dramatic Snowdon rescue

Just two days after the announcement of his engagement to Kate Middleton, Prince William was engaged in a dramatic rescue in Snowdon national park.

Mr Greg Watkins collapsed during a walk on Snowdon on Thursday 18th November, and was rescued by an RAF Sea King helicoper piloted by the prince.

Full story from the BBC.

Has Prince William set a date?

Prince William is said to be pushing for 28th April 2011 for the date of his wedding to Kate Middleton. This may cause problems as it will clash with political campaigns for local elections as well as a proposed referendum on the UK's electoral system.


Full story.

Colleagues plan helicopter flypast for William

The skies above London could see an RAF helicopter flypast on Prince William's wedding day.

The royal's RAF Search and Rescue Force helicopter colleagues are said to want to pay tribute to the prince by holding the aerial display in his honour.

Read more from the Press Association