LONDON – Prince William and Kate Middleton made a rare pre-wedding appearance last night as they attended a rehearsal for their wedding at Westminster Abbey.
With less than two days to go to their marriage ceremony, hundreds of tourists flocked to the abbey where die-hard royalists have pitched about 30 tents to claim the best spot on the big day.
There was a bustling atmosphere around the abbey with dozens of broadcasting crews, photographers and journalists from around the world and at home covering events.
Ms Middleton’s parents, Michael and Carole, took part in the rehearsal. They were joined by their daughter Pippa, who is Kate’s maid of honour, and son James. Prince Harry, William’s best man, was also present, along with all the senior churchmen involved in the ceremony.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who is marrying the couple, the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, who will give the address, and the Dean of Westminster, the Very Rev Dr John Hall, who is conducting the service, were all part of the rehearsal.
Before dawn yesterday roads around Buckingham Palace and along the route the couple will take from Westminster Abbey after Friday’s service were closed as about 1,000 members of the armed forces took part in a full-scale practice. Carriages that will carry members of the wedding party also took part alongside mounted cavalry.
Bunting was going up and flags were being hoisted across London, with similar preparations around the country, where about 5,500 street parties will be held.
A small army of media from around the world has descended on makeshift studios set up outside Buckingham Palace and along the route to cover the ceremony, which one British minister predicted would attract a global TV audience of some two billion people.
VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, is predicting an extra 600,000 tourists in the capital on the day, meaning there would be some 1.1 million visitors with 40 per cent of those coming from abroad. “That could bring anything up to £50 million,” a spokesman said, adding the number of in-bound flights to Britain for the weekend had risen by 244 per cent.
London and Partners, the agency that promotes the city, said it expected there would be 600,000 people actually lining the streets, the same number as came to watch the 1981 wedding of Prince William’s parents Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
British prime minister David Cameron has said the occasion would be a boon to a nation coping with government austerity measures that have resulted in drastic spending cuts and job losses. “People across the country, and indeed across the world, are getting excited about the events on Friday,” he told parliament.
Those who do go to London to watch the procession or camp out could be in for a cold and wet experience, with weather forecasters predicting showers and a brisk wind. – (Reuters/PA)