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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Royal Roundup: Official Wedding Photos Released, Honeymoon Delayed


The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace with their attendants. (Clockwise from bottom right) The Hon Margarita Armstrong-Jones, Miss Eliza Lopes, Miss Grace van Cutsem, Lady Louise Windsor, Master Tom Pettifer, Master William Lowther-Pinkerton.
Everyone is still abuzz about the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. Earlier today (April 30), Clarence House released some elegantly composed snaps of the royal couple, taken in Buckingham Palace's throne room after they arrived from their Westminister Abbey marriage service on Friday. The man behind the portraits, photographer Hugo Burnand, told the BBC: "Amazingly it was a family wedding. From where I was and from their point of view it was two families coming together and that was the feeling, the sense of family and love going between everyone." The Duke and Duchess took one photo alone, one with all of their young attendants, and one family portrait with The Queen,the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, Kate's parentsCarole and Michael, her siblings Pippa and James, and Prince Harry.
Here are a few other pics:

The dress in detail

Duchess of Cambridge
  • 1. The 1936 Cartier "halo" tiara was lent to the bride by The Queen
  • 2. The veil is made of layers of soft, ivory silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers
  • 3. The bodice, narrowed at the waist and padded at the hips, is a hallmark of McQueen's designs
  • 4. For the dress, individual flowers were hand-cut from lace and sewn onto ivory silk tulle
  • 5. The train measures 2m 70cm
  • 6. The shoes (hidden), made of satin with hand-embroidered lace, were also Alexander McQueen


The official Royal Wedding group photograph in the throne room at Buckingham Palace. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are flanked by their respective family members and attendants. Front row (left to right): Miss Grace van Cutsem, Miss Eliza Lopes, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen, the Hon Margarita Armstrong-Jones, Lady Louise Windsor, Master William Lowther-Pinkerton. Back row (left to right): Master Tom Pettifer, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Mr Michael Middleton, Mrs Michael Middleton, Mr James Middleton, Miss Philippa Middleton.

• Middleton's Grace Kelly-esque Sarah Burton dress has received rave notices, including from the New York Times fashion writer Eric Wilson, who called it "flawless" and cooed: "From the moment she stepped out of the Goring Hotel with her handsome father, it was impossible not to see how breathtakingly right she looked in a gown that combined the severity of Princess Grace’s famous wedding dress by Helen Rose with the intricate design details and a Victorian bodice, hallmarks of McQueen."
• The newlyweds have opted not to venture on their honeymoon immediately, BBC Newsreports. After departing Buckingham Palace via helicopter, the pair have opted to spend the weekend in the UK before Prince William returns to his RAF search-and-rescue pilot job next week. The couple have not disclosed the location of their honeymoon, but it is said to be overseas.
• Kate also wore a Sarah Burton white ensemble to last night's (April 29) evening dinner dance, attended by 300 of the Duke and Duchess's closest friends. Prince Harry was said to have given a best man speech for the newlyweds, and Kate's dad Michael Middleton provided a father-of-the-bride speech. Kate's sister Pippa, now known as "the most eligible girl" in Britain at the moment due to her striking white Maid of Honor gown yesterday, wore "a long emerald green sleeveless dress with a jeweled embellishment on the front and a plunging neckline," according to BBC News.
 The New York Times reports that estimated live viewership for the wedding "hovered in the three billion range, give or take 500 million." In London, the Metropolitan Police estimated that "a million people lined the route of the royal procession, and half a million gathered in front of Buckingham Palace to watch the bride and groom now known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, kiss (twice) on the palace balcony."
• Did billions actually watch the royal wedding coverage? PBS' Hari Sreenivasan is somewhat skeptical.
• While final figures have yet to be released on the live, early-morning U.S. coverage, more than 20 million viewers watched the broadcast networks' primetime recaps of the royal wedding last night (April 29), according to Variety.
• 34 million British viewers watched some of the BBC's royal wedding coverage either on TV or through iPlayer, BBC News reports. More than 24 million viewers watched on TV via BBC and the commercial broadcaster ITV. The event was among the most watched TV events ever in Britain, trailing the 1966 World Cup final (32.3 million viewers) and Princess Diana's funeral in 1997 (32.1 million).
• What's a royal wedding party without a little rowdiness? But apparently attendants at a party in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park took things a bit too far yesterday (April 29), as drunken disorder and attacks on police officers led to 21 arrests and one hospitalized officer. The "unofficial" event brought out more than 4,000 partygoers, said to mostly teens and young adults lured through social media advertising. Chief police superintendent Bernard Higginstold BBC News, "It's really disappointing that on the day of the royal wedding we witnessed the scenes we did." He added: "The level of drunkenness was completely unacceptable and frankly irresponsible."

The newly-weds then left Buckingham Palace, with Prince William driving his father's classic Aston Martin car down the Mall.



29 April 2011 Last updated at 15:45 ET
Clarence House has released footage of the Duchess of Cambridge wearing her second Sarah Burton creation, a strapless dress for the evening celebrations at Buckingham Palace.

The Royal Kisses 1981 and 2011


Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer's wedding July 29, 1981

Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer's wedding

29 July 1981

Extended highlights from Charles and Diana's wedding

Extended highlights from Prince Charles and Lady Diana's wedding at St Paul's Cathedral, followed by their balcony appearance at Buckingham Palace. Commentary from Tom Fleming.

The Royal Wedding Prince William and Kate Middleton April, 29, 2011