Complete Wedding Details

Here's the part II of the royal wedding details. The following details are taken from the royal wedding media briefing document I got yesterday from the official wedding site of William and Kate, the document's first page includes a monogram of the couple with a crown on top of their initials. The media briefing document was released by St. James's Palace, the official working office of the Prince of Wales, it was distributed to the media to give accurate reporting about the details of the wedding for the benefit of the public.

Oh, there's one more thing, for people who are expecting to see the very famous part of the ceremony --- and one of the customs of the modern wedding --- "you may now kiss the bride", sorry to tell you that such behaviour has never been part of rules of the Church of England (the Anglican religion", no royals ever smooched on the church before the congregation after pronouncing them "husband and wife". The Dean of Westminster, who will conduct the church service, made it clear to the public that "We don't do that in the Church of England, that's sort of a Hollywood thing" referring to the "kissing of the couple". But the public might viewed them kissing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during their appearance at 1:25 pm after the Wedding Breakfast. The marriage will be solemnized by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

ROYAL PERMISSION

The official consent of Queen Elizabeth II for the marriage of her grandson was released last Maundy Thursday. The Instrument of Consent was personally signed by the Queen at the Privy Council meeting after she made the Declaration of Consent last February. So what's this official consent stuff?

Based on the ancient law of the monarchy, the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, all descendants of King George III of the United Kingdom must formally seek the permission of the British ruling sovereign for marriage in order to be considered it legal in the United Kingdom. Anybody who would not ask permission or if the marriage will not be approved the sovereign, it is considered null and void in Great Britain and would automatically strip the royal from the line of succession to the British throne. Descendants of King George III include all royals of the European royal houses, except the Netherlands and Liechtenstein.

Under the Great Seal of the Realm, Her Majesty signed a notice of approval proclaiming (and transcribed calligraphy) and giving consent on the union of His Royal Highness, Prince William of Wales, K.G (Knight of the Garter) and Miss Catherine Elizabeth Middleton. The document has a decorative artwork to represent William and Kate, a white lily to represent St. Catherine of Siena whose feast day falls on the couple's wedding day, a Welsh leek surrounded by the Prince's white three-pronged second-in-line label and a red scallop taken from the Spencer's family Coat-of-Arms.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE SCHEDULE

The following timings have been confirmed for the Wedding Day. 

8.15 -9.45am  The general congregation will arrive at the Great

North Door of Westminster Abbey.

From 9.50am  Governors-General and Prime Ministers of Realm Countries,

the Diplomatic Corps, and other distinguished guests arrive at     the Abbey.

10.10am          The Bridegroom and Prince Henry of Wales leave Clarence House for Westminster Abbey.  They arrive at the Abbey at 10.15am.

10.20am          Members of Foreign Royal Families arrive at Westminster Abbey from Buckingham Palace.

10.20am          Mrs. Michael (Carole) Middleton and Mr. James Middleton leave the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey.  They arrive at the Abbey at 10.27am.

10.25am          Members of the Royal Family (except those listed below) leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey.  They arrive at the Abbey at 10.30am.

10.35am          The following Members of the Royal Family leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey.  They arrive at the Abbey at 10.40am:

The Duke of York

Princess Beatrice of York

Princess Eugenie or York

The Earl and Countess of Wessex

The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence

10.38am          The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall leave Clarence House for Westminster Abbey.  They arrive at the Abbey at 10.42am.

10.40am          The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey.  They arrive at the Abbey at 10.45am.

10.48am          The Bridesmaids and Pages leave the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey.  They arrive at the Abbey at 10.55am.

10.51am          The Bride, accompanied by Mr. Michael Middleton, leaves the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey.

11.00am          The Marriage Service begins.  The Marriage Service will be relayed by audio speakers along the Route.

12.15pm          The Carriage Procession of the Bride and Bridegroom with a Captain’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, followed by The Queen’s Procession with a Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, leaves Westminster Abbey for Buckingham Palace.

12.30pm          The Bride’s Carriage Procession arrives at Buckingham Palace.

12.40pm          Members of the Royal Family and Members of Foreign Royal     Families arrive at Buckingham Palace.

From 12.40pm Other guests for the Reception arrive at Buckingham Palace.

1.25pm            The Queen and the Bride and Bridegroom, together with their   Families, appear on the Balcony.

1.30pm             Fly Past by the Royal Air Force and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. 

All arrivals at Westminster Abbey are at the Great West Door unless otherwise indicated. 

THE BRIDAL ENTOURAGE

Best Man: His Royal Highness, Prince Harry of Wales (the groom's only brother)

Maid of Honor: Miss Philippa Middleton (the bride's only sister)

Bridesmaids: 

             The Lady Louisse Windsor, 7 years old (William's first cousin)

             Honorable Margarita Armstrong-Jones, 8 yrs.old (son of Viscount Linley-the Queen's nephew)

             Miss Grace Van Cutsems, 3 years old (William's godchild)

             Miss Elisa Lopes, 3 yrs.old (granddaughter of the Duchess of Cornwall)

Pageboys:

             Master William Lower-Pinkerton, 10 yrs.old (son of William's private secretary)

             Master Tom Pettifer, 10 yrs.old (son of William's former nanny)

These young girls and boys will perform their roles as Bridesmaids and Pageboys (commonly known as Groom's men) in the wedding and will have their position in the carriage after the ceremony.

WEDDING MUSICIAN AND PHOTOGRAPHER

Musicians: The Choir groups of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace

                 The London Chamber Opera

                 The Fanfare team of the Central Band of the Royal Air Force

                 The State Trumpeters of the Household of Cavalry

Official wedding Photographer: Hugo Burnard of Conde Nust Publications, he was personally chosen by Prince William to take wedding souvenirs because of his long service to the royal family as portrait photographer.

WEDDING RING

In British royalty and aristocracy, males never actually wear a wedding ring because under the marriage vow of the Anglican rites ring symbolizes "worldy treasure" which will be offered by a groom to his bride. Wearing a wedding ring among British aristocrats is entirely a personal choice and Prince William already made it clear he won't wear a wedding ring. So there will only be one ring in the ceremony, which will be worn by the bride. It is made from the lump of Welsh Gold owned by the royal family. By not wearing a wedding ring, Prince William will follow the tradition set by male royals including his grandfather, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh. But his father, Prince Charles, and two uncles, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, each wore a wedding ring for their respective marriages. The Prince of Wales placed it under his signet ring on his little finger.

WEDDING CAKE

There will be two sets of wedding cake prepared for the wedding. One is the traditional wedding cake made of Fiona Cairns from Leicestershire. It is a multi-tiered fruit cake with roses and cream icing and will be decorated by British floral themes. The other cake is a Chocolate Biscuit Cake, especially requested by Prince William, made from the royal family recipe and will be created by McVitie's Cake Company.

WEDDING RECEPTION

Traditionally, the royal family called this WEDDING BREAKFAST even if the reception falls in the afternoon. There will be two receptions. First at 1:00 pm hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Among the 1,900 invited guests, only 600 will be invited to Wedding Breakfast. Guests will be served with Canapes and the chocolate biscuit cake. Among the 600 people, only 300 will be invited to a private dinner at 6:00 pm hosted by Prince Charles also at Buckingham Palace.

WEDDING BOUQUET

The flowers comprising the bridal bouquet are not mentioned in the document but one thing for sure, there will be no tossing of the bouquet in the reception just like other ordinary weddings because Kate Middleton will follow the tradition set by previous royal brides by putting it on the Tomb of Unknown Soldier located on the floor of Westminster Abbey. It means, she will leave the church without bringing the bouquet anymore.

WEDDING GIFTS
William and Kate have set up a Charity Fund which listed charitable institutions around the United Kingdom with no existing royal patronage and mostly unknown, to be the beneficiaries of their wedding gifts. The couple announced through their official wedding site that in case of any generosity for their wedding, gifts will be in the formed of anything to be donated to any of the charities listed in the Fund.

WEDDING PARADE

The wedding ceremony will be relayed by audio speakers along the route. After the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, the entourage and the royal family will return to Buckingham Palace and will pass on a designated route with a tight security. William and Kate will ride in a 1902 State Landau, the same Landau that carried Charles and Diana after their 1981 wedding. They will be followed by horse-drawn carriages carrying the members of the British royal family, the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, will ride in a State glass carriage. The Middleton family will ride on the motor couches provided by the royal family.

FLYPAST PRESENTATION
After the wedding breakfast, the newly wed will appear for 10 minutes in the balcony of Buckingham Palace with the royal family to greet the cheering crowd, just like the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1981 (left picture). There will be fly-past presentation where Royal Air Force will do an acrobat stunt of their aircraft. It was revealed that the aircraft units to be used are Spitfire, Lancaster and Hurricane mostly from the Battle of Britain Memorial, the Spitfires and Hurricanes were prominently featured in the book, The Battle of Britain by Matthew Parker (which I read last week) used by the Royal Air Force, where they emerged victorious against Hitler's forces during World War II.

LIVE STREAMING ON THE ROYAL CHANNEL
It was announced also that the royal wedding can be viewed for free at the Royal Channel in youtube accompanied by a live multi-media blog coordinated by St. James's Palace. The Royal Channel will host a live stream gadget courtersy of google.com which will stream the wedding live from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm (6:00 pm to 10:00 pm Philippine time).

There will be thousands of British military personnel to control the crowd and protect V.I.P guests on the wedding day.