The Royal Wedding

Find out the latest news about The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:00:20 +0000

Did you know that you can keep up-to-date with the latest news, pictures and videos from St. James's Palace on www.dukeandduchessofcambridge.org?

The Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress to go on display at Buckingham Palace this summer

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:00:03 +0000

The Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress, designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, will go on display at Buckingham Palace during the annual Summer Opening (23 July - 3 October 2011). The Duchess chose British brand Alexander McQueen for the beauty of its craftsmanship and its respect for traditional workmanship and the technical construction of clothing. Her Royal Highness worked closely with Sarah Burton in formulating the design of her dress.

The dress is made from ivory and white satin-gazar (stiffened organza). The shape of the skirt, with arches and pleats, echoes an opening flower, and the ivory satin bodice, which is narrowed at the waist and padded at the hips, draws on the Victorian tradition of corsetry - a hallmark of Alexander McQueen’s designs. The back of the dress is finished with 58 gazar- and organza-covered buttons fastened by Rouleau loops. The underskirt is made of silk tulle trimmed with Cluny lace. The train measures 2.7 metres.

The Duchess’s wedding dress reflects the work of skilled craftsmen and women from across the United Kingdom. The lace appliqué for the bodice and skirt was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework, founded in 1872. The lace was produced using the Carrickmacross lace-making technique, which originated in Ireland in the 1820s. Individual flowers were hand-cut from lace and hand-engineered on to ivory silk-tulle to create a design that incorporates the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock. Each lace motif, some as small as a 5-pence piece, was applied with minute stitches every two to three millimetres.

The bride’s veil, made of layers of soft, ivory silk-tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers, was also embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework. The veil was held in place by the Cartier ‘Halo’ tiara, which was lent to The Duchess by The Queen. The tiara is formed as a band of 16 graduated scrolls set with 739 brilliants and 149 baton diamonds, each scroll being divided by a graduated brilliant with a large brilliant at the centre. The tiara was made in 1936 and purchased by The Duke of York (later King George VI) for The Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) three weeks before he succeeded his brother as King. The tiara was presented to Princess Elizabeth (now The Queen) by her mother on the occasion of her 18th birthday.

The Duchess’s wedding shoes, hand-made by the team at Alexander McQueen, of ivory duchesse satin and lace embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework, will also form part of the display, as will the diamond earrings worn by The Duchess on her wedding day. Commissioned by the Middleton family as a personal gift to the bride from her parents, they were created by the London-based jewellers Robinson Pelham. The design, of stylised oak leaves with a pear-shaped diamond-set drop and a pavé-set diamond acorn suspended in the centre, was inspired by the Middleton family's new coat of arms.

To complement the wedding dress display, The Duke and Duchess’s wedding cake created by Leicestershire-based cake designer Fiona Cairns will be shown in the State Dining Room. The multi-tiered traditional fruit cake was hand-made using British ingredients and decorated with sugar flowers.

The Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress and the royal wedding cake will be on display as part of the Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace, which also includes the special exhibition Royal Fabergé.

For more information, visit the Royal Collection website

The Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund - Over 1 million pounds raised to benefit Royal Wedding Charities

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:00:44 +0000

£1,058,367 has been contributed to the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund, which will go to benefit the 26 charities personally chosen by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The funds will be distributed amongst the charities by the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry.

The couple set up the Charitable Gift Fund so that anyone who wished to give them a wedding gift could instead donate to their chosen charities in celebration of their wedding. The majority of donations made were through the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund Website.

Contributions to the Fund were also made via revenue raised from wedding-related projects including a donation by Decca Records from the sales of the official Royal Wedding Album and a donation made by Mario Testino’s office from the sales of the photograph of the couple printed in the official wedding brochure.

In addition to the Charitable Gift Fund Website, members of the public and wedding guests sent donations directly to the charities themselves and to the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry to add to the Wedding Gift Fund.

Notes to Editors

A breakdown of the money contributed to the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund is as follows:

£559,104 was donated to the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund by members of the public and wedding guests;
£247,000 was generated from rights due to The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry that the Trustees allocated to the Gift Fund; and
£252,263 was paid directly to the 26 charities.

The 26 charities to benefit from the fund were grouped into particular areas: Changing Lives through Arts and Sport; Children Fulfilling Their Potential; Help and Care at Home; Support for Service Personnel and Their Families; and Conservation for Future Generations.

The charities include some based in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, to reflect the couple’s close ties to and affection for the three countries following visits by The Duke in the past.

The full list of charities to benefit from the fund is:
Peace Players, Ocean Youth Trust, Greenhouse Schools, Oily Cart, Dance United, IntoUniversity, Venture Trust, Beat Bullying, Keyfund, A National Voice, Association for Children’s Palliative Care (ACT), Youth Access, Community Foundation in Wales, Scottish Community Foundation, Berkshire Community Foundation, Combat Stress, Cruse Bereavement Care for Children of Forces’ Families, Household Cavalry Benevolent Fund, Irish Guards Appeal, Army Widows Association, Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, ZSL, EarthWatch, The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, New Zealand Government’s Christchurch Earthquake Appeal, Royal Flying Doctor Service – Australia

Members of the public were able to donate through the Royal Wedding Charitable Fund website between 16th March and 31st May. Donations, via the website, were possible in six currencies. Donations could also be made by telephone, by text message or by sending a cheque.

The Charitable Gift Fund is closed

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 13:00:15 +0000

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are incredibly grateful for all the generous donations and messages of goodwill that have been sent to the Charitable Gift Fund in celebration of their wedding. The Fund has now closed.

The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry will announce, in due course, the total sum raised and how this will be distributed to the charities that have been chosen to benefit.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Tour of Canada

Tue, 31 May 2011 08:00:58 +0000

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit eight cities during their tour of Canada, from June 30 to July 8, 2011. This will be the third time His Royal Highness has visited Canada. His previous visits were in 1991 and 1998. This will be the first visit to Canada for Her Royal Highness.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit:

• the National Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario, and Gatineau, Quebec)

from June 30 to July 2;

• Montréal, Quebec, on July 2;

• Québec City, Quebec, on July 3;

• Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, from July 3 to July 4;

• Summerside, Prince Edward Island, on July 4;

• Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, from July 4 to July 6; and

• Calgary, Alberta, from July 6 to July 8.

A full itinerary is being developed in collaboration with a number of municipal, provincial, territorial and federal partners, and private organisations. The complete official itinerary will be announced closer to the start of the Royal Tour.

The theme of the 2011 Royal Tour is ‘Moving Forward Together’ from Past Accomplishments to Current Service to Future Achievements.

In California, United States of America, Their Royal Highnesses will visit Los Angeles and surrounding areas from July 8 to July 10.

Notes to Editors

The following text is courtesy of the Department of Canadian Heritage:

The 2011 Royal Tour of Canada by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will give the Royal Couple the opportunity to visit every region of the country—east, centre, west, and north—on their first official tour as a married couple. It will enable them to meet as many Canadians as possible and, in the process, come to know Canada even better. It is hoped that, upon their departure, they will come to regard Canada as their second home—a term of endearment often used by The Queen to describe her special bond of affection for and pride in this country, which has developed over many years since her first tour of Canada as a princess in 1951 at the age of 25.

The planned events of the Royal Tour will highlight the ‘Canadian Continuum’ by focusing on a unique combination of what Canadians have accomplished together (the past), how Canadians define themselves through active service (the present) and why Canadians will continue to strive to attain other goals and aspirations (the future). Just as the Royal Couple reflect the generational continuum and vitality of the Canadian Crown, the various events will include those who have built the country (for example, seniors, veterans, and community leaders); serve to reinforce shared values (such as volunteers, artists, and the military); and even now prepare for the many challenges and promises of the future (youth).

The tour will also serve to reinforce the significant milestones already celebrated by Canadians and usher in Canada’s future milestones, moving toward the 150^th anniversary of confederation in 2017.

The Royal Wedding online

Fri, 06 May 2011 08:00:53 +0000

Live stream/ The Royal Channel on You Tube

For the first time, broadcast footage of a royal wedding was live streamed on The Royal Channel on YouTube (www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel), accompanied by a live multi-media blog put together by St James’s Palace.

There were 72 million live streams and 101 million total stream views for the day, including re-broadcasts.

During the 10 seconds around the balcony kiss, The Royal Channel on YouTube experienced an additional 100,000 requests.

On 30th April, The Royal YouTube channel was the most-viewed channel on YouTube.

The Royal Channel on YouTube is powered by Google App Engine.

Official Royal Wedding Website
Since its launch in March, there have been approximately 13.7 million visits to www.officialroyalwedding2011.org and 37.7 million pages viewed.

On the day of the wedding, there were around 15 million page views alone.

At its peak, the official Royal Wedding website processed over 2,000 requests per second.

21 video highlights were produced in-house by the Royal Household on the wedding day, which have been viewed more than 11.4 million times to date.

The official Royal Wedding website is powered by Google App Engine and was built by Accenture.

Facebook - The British Monarchy

There were 9 million views to the British Monarchy Facebook page on Friday 29th April and 27,220 attendees to the British Monarchy’s Facebook ‘Royal Wedding’ event.

Flickr - The British Monarchy account

On 29th April, the British Monarchy account on Flickr received 11 million views.

The most viewed photo was of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge kneeling at the Altar.

Twitter

The @ClarenceHouse Twitter feed has over 141,000 followers and accumulated over 40,000 followers on the wedding day.

Official “Video wedding book”

There have been over 300 personal messages uploaded on the official video "Wedding Book" on YouTube with more to follow.

Royal Wedding Programme

Fri, 06 May 2011 08:00:29 +0000

A limited number of Official Programmes for the Marriage of H.R.H Prince William of Wales, K.G. with Miss Catherine Middleton, are available for sale.

The programme was on sale on The Mall and surrounding areas on the day of the Royal Wedding. The Programme is 28 pages long and includes a message from the couple, an illustrated map and timetable of the day, the Order of Service, details of the Carriage Procession, information on Westminster Abbey and the Coats of Arms, and a newly released image of the couple taken by Mario Testino.

All profits from the sale of the Official Programme will go to the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry.

For more information, click here.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge To Visit California, United States of America

Thu, 05 May 2011 01:00:01 +0000

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit California, United States of America, following their Tour of Canada in July this year. The Couple will visit the State of California from 8th July to 10th July 2011.

A detailed itinerary will be published at a later date.

Notes to Editors

The Duke of Cambridge has never before visited the United States of America in an official capacity. His Royal Highness has visited the United States of America privately. The Duchess of Cambridge has never before visited the United States of America officially or privately.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge: The Honeymoon

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 12:45:59 +0000

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have chosen not to depart for a honeymoon immediately. Instead, after spending the weekend privately in the United Kingdom, The Duke will return to work as a Search and Rescue pilot next week.

The locations of both their private weekend before The Duke returns to work and their future honeymoon, which will be overseas, will not be disclosed in advance.

The Couple have asked that their privacy be respected during the coming weekend and during their honeymoon.

The Official Royal Wedding Photographs by Hugo Burnand

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 12:12:54 +0000

These are the official Royal Wedding photographs taken at Buckingham Palace by Hugo Burnand.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge depart Buckingham Palace

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 11:30:27 +0000

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave Buckingham Palace the morning after their wedding.

Photographs of the evening reception at Buckingham Palace

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 11:30:06 +0000

Below are some photos from the evening wedding reception hosted by The Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace.

For more photos from the day, visit the British Monarchy Flickr account.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave Buckingham Palace in an Aston Martin

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 17:29:01 +0000

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave Buckingham Palace for Clarence House.

The Duke is driving an Aston Martin DB6. The convertible Aston Martin Volante DB6 MKII in Seychelles blue is owned by his father HRH The Prince of Wales. The Prince has owned the car since 1969.

In June 2008, at the specific request of The Prince of Wales, who is keen that his cars should be run on sustainable fuel, the Aston Martin was converted to run on E85 bioethanol, made from English wine wastage.

A view from the roof of Buckingham Palace during the fly past

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 17:13:40 +0000

A view from the roof of Buckingham Palace during the fly past.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave Buckingham Palace for Clarence House

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:28:25 +0000

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave Buckingham Palace for Clarence House.

The Duke is driving an Aston Martin DB6. The convertible Aston Martin Volante DB6 MKII in Seychelles blue is owned by his father HRH The Prince of Wales. The Prince has owned the car since 1969.

In June 2008, at the specific request of The Prince of Wales, who is keen that his cars should be run on sustainable fuel, the Aston Martin was converted to run on E85 bioethanol, made from English wine wastage.

The car is accompanied by a Search and Rescue helicopter in a special fly past. The Duke of Cambridge is a serving Search and Rescue pilot, based in Anglesey, Wales.

The aircraft and crew are normally based at RAF Wattisham in Suffolk and it was flown by members of ‘B’ Flight 22 Squadron which is the same squadron The Duke is a member of.

The details of the crew are:-

Captain

Squadron Leader Holly Steel was born in Hamilton, New Zealand, in 1978. She moved to England 1987 with her family but is proud to be from the Colonies and considers herself a Kiwi. She is currently the Flight Commander of ‘B’Flight.

Co-Pilot

Flight Lieutenant Lee Turner was born in Weymouth, Dorset, in 1979. He joined the Royal Air Force in Feb 1999 after successful completion of sixth form and flying scholarships. Flt Lt Turner was awarded the Air Force Cross in March 2009 for his role as captain in the recovery of crew members from the stricken ferry ‘Riverdance’ off the coast of Blackpool. Flt Lt Turner was Prince William’s Flight Commander of during his Search And Rescue training at RAF Valley and flew with him many times as one of his principle instructors.

Radar Operator

Master Aircrew (MAcr) John Caseley was born in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, in 1969 and joined the Royal Air Force as an Air Loadmaster in Feb 1988. His first 2 tours were as a Support Helicopter Crewman on 33 Squadron at RAF Odiham, flying on the Puma HC Mk l. During his time on the Puma MAcr John Caseley saw service in Norway, Belize, Turkey, Denmark, Mexico and Germany. In 1995 he was selected for training as a SAR Winchman. In 2009 MAcr John Caseley changed roles and qualified as a SAR Radar and Winch Operator before being posted back to B Flight 22 Squadron, again as Rearcrew Leader, where he has served to the present day.

Winchman

Sergeant Lee Clark was born in Wrexham, North Wales, in 1969. He joined the Royal Air Force on the 8 July 1986, aged 16. He spent 12 years as a Mechanical Transport Driver completing several tours in the UK and 2 tours in Germany. He remustered to Airman Aircrew in 1998 and has deployed to Kosovo, Afghanistan and completed several tours in the Falkland Islands.

The Lunchtime Reception

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:00:14 +0000

The Queen is giving a lunchtime Reception at Buckingham Palace for around 650 guests drawn from the Wedding Service congregation, representing the Couple’s official and private lives.

Guests will be served a selection of canapés, including:

Cornish Crab Salad on Lemon Blini

Pressed Duck Terrine with Fruit Chutney

Roulade of Goats Cheese with Caramelised Walnuts

Assortment of Palmiers and Cheese Straws

Scottish Smoked Salmon Rose on Beetroot Blini

Miniature Watercress and Asparagus Tart

Poached Asparagus spears with Hollandaise Sauce for Dipping

Quails Eggs with Celery Salt

Scottish Langoustines with Lemon Mayonnaise Pressed Confit of Pork Belly with Crayfish and Crackling

Wild Mushroom and Celeriac Chausson

Bubble and Squeak with Confit Shoulder of Lamb

Grain Mustard and honey-glazed Chipolatas

Smoked Haddock Fishcake with Pea Guacamole

Miniature Yorkshire Pudding with Roast Fillet of Beef and Horseradish Mousse

Gateau Opera

Blood Orange Pate de Fruit

Raspberry Financier

Rhubarb Crème Brulee Tartlet

Passion Fruit Praline

White Chocolate Ganache Truffle

Milk Chocolate Praline with Nuts

Dark Chocolate Ganache Truffle

Guests will be served Pol Roger NV Brut Réserve Champagne with a selection of other soft and alcoholic drinks.

The wedding cake and a chocolate biscuit cake will also be served at the Reception. The wedding cake, designed by Fiona Cairns, is made from 17 individual fruit cakes (12 of which form the base) and has eight tiers. The cake has been decorated with cream and white icing using the Joseph Lambeth technique. There are up to 900 individually iced flowers and leaves of 17 different varieties decorated on the cake. A garland design around the middle of the cake matches the architectural garlands decorated around the top of the Picture Gallery in Buckingham Palace, the room in which the cake will be displayed. The chocolate biscuit cake was created by Mcvitie’s Cake Company using a Royal Family recipe at the special request of Prince William.

During the course of the Reception, Governors-General and Prime Ministers of Realm Countries will be presented to The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall and the Bridal Couple. The Reception will include the cutting of the wedding cake and some speeches.

Guests at the reception will be entertained by Claire Jones, the official Harpist to HRH The Prince of Wales.

Notes to Editors

All the ingredients for the canapés have been carefully sourced from Royal Warrant holding companies using UK-based ingredients. These include:

Gressingham Duck
English Goats cheese from Paxton and Whitfield
English Asparagus
Welsh organic Celery Salt
Langoustines from the North West Coast of Scotland
Pork from the Cotswolds
English Crayfish
Windsor Estate Lamb
Smoked Haddock from the East Coast of Scotland
Beef from the Castle of Mey Selections in the North Highlands of Scotland
English Rhubarb

Approximately 10,000 canapés have been prepared by a team of 21 chefs, led by Royal Chef Mark Flanagan.

The Joseph Lambeth Method is derived from a style of decorating that was popular in England where chefs and decorators would use intricate piping to create 3-D scrollwork, leaves, flowers, and other decorations on a cake. A cake decorated in the Lambeth Method and accented with fresh fruit or flowers is the wedding cake of choice for anyone who wants a traditional looking, elegant wedding cake.

Each of the 17 different flower designs on the official wedding cake has their own individual meaning according to the Language of Flowers. They include:

White Rose - National symbol of England

Daffodil – National symbol of Wales, new beginnings

Shamrock – National symbol of Ireland

Thistle – National symbol of Scotland

Acorns, Oak Leaf – Strength, endurance

Myrtle – Love

Ivy – Wedded Love, Marriage

Lily-of-the-Valley – Sweetness, Humility

Rose (Bridal) – Happiness, Love.

Sweet William – Grant me one smile

Honeysuckle – The Bond of Love

Apple Blossom – Preference, Good Fortune

White Heather – Protection, Wishes will come true

Jasmine (White) – Amiability

Daisy – Innocence, Beauty, Simplicity

Orange Blossom – Marriage, Eternal Love, Fruitfulness

Lavender – ardent attachment, devotion, success, and luck.

The Bishop of London's Sermon

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 11:41:45 +0000

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.

Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope.

In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.

William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each another.

A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.

It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love.

You have both made your decision today – “I will” – and by making this new relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for the human race.

We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely a power that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century. We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth and for one another.

Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform as long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each must give the other space and freedom. Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase:

“Whan maistrie [mastery] comth, the God of Love anon,

Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon.”

As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual forgiveness, to thrive.

As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light. This leads to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can practise and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and joy and peace.

I pray that all of us present and the many millions watching this ceremony and sharing in your joy today, will do everything in our power to support and uphold you in your new life. And I pray that God will bless you in the way of life that you have chosen, that way which is expressed in the prayer that you have composed together in preparation for this day:

God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.

In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.

Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prince William and Catherine Middleton's Prayer

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 11:40:20 +0000

Prince William and Catherine Middleton have written their own prayer:

God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.

In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.

Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Wedding Dress, Bridesmaids' Dresses and Pages' Uniforms

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 11:00:14 +0000

The Wedding Dress

Miss Catherine Middleton’s Wedding Dress has been designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen.

Miss Middleton chose British brand Alexander McQueen for the beauty of its craftsmanship and its respect for traditional workmanship and the technical construction of clothing. Miss Middleton wished for her dress to combine tradition and modernity with the artistic vision that characterises Alexander McQueen’s work. Miss Middleton worked closely with Sarah Burton in formulating the design of her dress.

The dress epitomises timeless British craftsmanship by drawing together talented and skilled workmanship from across the United Kingdom. The dress design pays tribute to the Arts and Crafts tradition, which advocated truth to materials and traditional craftsmanship using simple forms and often Romantic styles of decoration. Ms Burton’s design draws on this heritage, additionally giving the cut and the intricate embellishment a distinctive, contemporary and feminine character.

The design

The lace appliqué for the bodice and skirt was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace. The lace design was hand-engineered (appliquéd) using the Carrickmacross lace-making technique, which originated in Ireland in the 1820s. Individual flowers have been hand-cut from lace and hand-engineered onto ivory silk tulle to create a unique and organic design, which incorporates the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock.

Hand-cut English lace and French Chantilly lace has been used throughout the bodice and skirt, and has been used for the underskirt trim. With laces coming from different sources, much care was taken to ensure that each flower was the same colour. The whole process was overseen and put together by hand by Ms Burton and her team.

The dress is made with ivory and white satin gazar. The skirt echoes an opening flower, with white satin gazar arches and pleats. The train measures two metres 70 centimetres. The ivory satin bodice, which is narrowed at the waist and padded at the hips, draws on the Victorian tradition of corsetry and is a hallmark of Alexander McQueen’s designs. The back is finished with 58 gazar and organza covered buttons fastened by Rouleau loops. The underskirt is made of silk tulle trimmed with Cluny lace.

The Fabrics

French Chantilly lace was combined with English Cluny lace to be hand-worked in the Irish Carrickmacross needlework tradition.

All other fabrics used in the creation of the dress were sourced from and supplied by British companies. The choice of fabrics followed extensive research by Sarah Burton and her team.

The Royal School of Needlework

The Royal School of Needlework (RSN), based at Hampton Court Palace, assisted the Alexander McQueen team in accurately cutting out the delicate motifs from the lace fabrics and positioning the lace motifs with precision into the new design. The lace motifs were pinned, ‘framed up’ and applied with stab stitching every two to three millimetres around each lace motif. The workers washed their hands every thirty minutes to keep the lace and threads pristine, and the needles were renewed every three hours, to keep them sharp and clean.

The RSN workers included existing staff, former staff, tutors, graduates and students, with the youngest aged 19.

The RSN’s work was used primarily for the train and skirt of the Bride’s dress, the bodice and sleeves, the Bride’s shoes and the Bride’s veil.

Veil and Jewellery

The veil is made of layers of soft, ivory silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers, which was embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework. The veil is held in place by a Cartier ‘halo’ tiara, lent to Miss Middleton by The Queen. The ‘halo’ tiara was made by Cartier in 1936 and was purchased by The Duke of York (later King George VI) for his Duchess (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) three weeks before he succeeded his brother as King. The tiara was presented to Princess Elizabeth (now The Queen) by her mother on the occasion of her 18th birthday.

The Bride’s earrings, by Robinson Pelham, are diamond-set stylised oak leaves with a pear shaped diamond set drop and a pavé set diamond acorn suspended in the centre. Inspiration for the design comes from the Middleton family's new coat of arms, which includes acorns and oak leaves. The earrings were made to echo the tiara. The earrings were a personal gift to the Bride from her parents for her Wedding Day.

Robinson Pelham have also designed and made a pair of diamond earrings for Miss Philippa Middleton. These earrings are more floral in nature to compliment the headpiece worn by Miss Philippa Middleton during the Service.

A tourmaline and diamond pendant and matching earrings have been designed and made for Mrs. Carole Middleton. Two gold stick pins, one with a single gold acorn at the head and the other with an oak leaf, are also worn respectively by the Father of the Bride, Mr. Michael Middleton, and the Bride's brother, Mr. James Middleton.

Wedding Shoes

The wedding shoes have made hand-made by the team at Alexander McQueen and are made of ivory duchesse satin with lace hand-embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.

The Bride’s Bouquet

The bouquet is a shield-shaped wired bouquet of myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet William and hyacinth. The bouquet was designed by Shane Connolly and draws on the traditions of flowers of significance for the Royal Family, the Middleton family and on the Language of Flowers.

The flowers’ meanings in the bouquet are:

Lily-of-the-valley – Return of happiness

Sweet William – Gallantry

Hyacinth – Constancy of love

Ivy: Fidelity; marriage; wedded love; friendship; affection

Myrtle: the emblem of marriage; love.

The bouquet contains stems from a myrtle planted at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, by Queen Victoria in 1845, and a sprig from a plant grown from the myrtle used in The Queen’s wedding bouquet of 1947.

The tradition of carrying myrtle begun after Queen Victoria was given a nosegay containing myrtle by Prince Albert’s grandmother during a visit to Gotha in Germany. In the same year, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Osborne House as a family retreat, and a sprig from the posy was planted against the terrace walls, where it continues to thrive today.

The myrtle was first carried by Queen Victoria eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, when she married in 1858, and was used to signify the traditional innocence of a bride.

Miss Philippa Middleton’s Dress

Miss Philippa Middleton’s dress was designed and created by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen. It is of a heavy, ivory satin-based crepe, with a cowl front and with the same button detail and lace trims as the Bride’s dress.

The Young Bridesmaids’ Dresses

The young Bridesmaids’ dresses were designed by childrenswear designer Nicki Macfarlane to echo the Bride’s dress. The four dresses were hand-made by Ms Macfarlane and her daughter Charlotte Macfarlane at their homes in Wiltshire and Kent.

The Bridesmaids’ dresses have been created using the same fabrics as the Bride’s dress. The ballerina-length, full, box pleated skirt gives the dresses a sculptural quality, with the layering of ivory over white satin gazar adding depth of colour. They have all been hand-finished with delicate English Cluny lace, which is visible under the skirts, and four layers of net underskirt. The puff sleeves and neckline are trimmed with the same English lace as the Bride’s underskirt. The backs have been finished with the same button detail.

The sashes are made of pale gold, wild silk, which is tucked at the front and tied at the back in a sumptuous bow.

As a special memento, the Bridesmaid’s name and the date of the wedding have been hand-embroidered onto the lining of each dress.

Capes (These may or may not be worn dependent on the weather)

The waist-length capes, also created by Nicki Macfarlane, are made from ivory Yorkshire wool, edged in fine English lace and tied at the front in the same satin gazar as the dresses.

Shoes

The Bridesmaids’ shoes were designed and made by Devon-based Rainbow Club. The classic Mary Jane style shoes are made from satin and finished with a Swarovski crystal buckle. Devon-based Rainbow Club have been designing, making and colouring handmade wedding shoes since the mid-1980s.

Bridesmaids’ Flowers

The Bridesmaids’ flowers were designed and made by Shane Connolly. The ivy and lily-of-the-valley hair wreaths worn by the younger Bridesmaids were influenced by the Bride’s mother’s own headdress at her wedding in 1981. The bouquets held by the Bridesmaids replicate the flowers used in the Bride’s bouquet, and they incorporate lily-of-the-valley, sweet William and hyacinth.

Pages’ Uniforms

The Pages are wearing a uniform in the style of that worn by a Foot Guards officer at the time of the Regency (the 1820s). The uniform draws its insignia from the Irish Guards, whose Colonel is Prince William.

The tunic is Guards’ Red with gold piping, Irish shamrocks are on the collars and its buttons are arranged in fours, denoting the Irish – or Fourth – Regiment of Foot Guards. The buttons feature the Harp of Ireland surmounted by the Crown Imperial. The breeches are ivory and are worn with white stockings and black buckle shoes

The Pages will wear a gold and crimson sash (with tassel) around their waists. The sash is worn by officers in the Irish Guards when in the presence of a Member of the Royal Family.

The uniforms were designed in the Royal Household and were created by Kashket and Partners, who have also fitted Prince William’s uniform for his Wedding Day. The collars and cuffs were created by the Royal School of Needlework.

Her Majesty The Queen's outfit

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:45:41 +0000

Her Majesty The Queen is wearing an Angela Kelly designed single crepe wool primrose dress with hand sown beading at the neck in the shape of sunrays. Matching double crepe wool tailored primrose coat.

An Angela Kelly designed matching crepe hat with hand made silk roses and matching apricot coloured leaves.

Jewellery: Queen Mary’s True Lovers Knot broach

The Duchess of Cornwall's outfit

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:30:55 +0000

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall is wearing an outfit designed by Anna Valentine to the wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton.

The outfit consists of a champagne silk dress and a duck egg blue and champagne coat, which is hand-embroidered. The dress and coat are both designed by Anna Valentine.

The Duchess of Cornwall is wearing a Philip Treacy hat and shoes made by Jimmy Choo. The clutch bag is by Anna Valentine

Mrs Middleton's dress

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:00:05 +0000

Mrs. Carole Middleton is wearing a sky blue wool crepe coatdress with matching satin piping and passementerie at the waist and cuff over a sky blue silk shantung ‘Sydney’ day dress with short pleated sleeves and pleated pockets. The dress and coatdress are by Catherine Walker. Mrs. Middleton’s hat is by Berkshire-based Jane Corbett.

HRH The Prince of Wales's Uniform

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:00:44 +0000

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales is wearing the Royal Navy Number One Dress (Ceremonial) to the wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton. The Prince of Wales has held the rank of Admiral of the Royal Navy since 2006.

The Sash (blue) - Order of the Garter (worn from left shoulder to right side)

The Garter Star: The Most Noble Order of the Garter is worn on the left, below a row of medals. It is a silver eight-pointed star with a centre medallion portraying the enamelled red Cross of St George surrounded by enamelled blue garter inscribed with the motto of the Order “HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE” (Evil be to him that thinks evil).

The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III in 1348, is the senior British Order of Chivalry. The Prince of Wales automatically became a Knight of the Garter when he became Prince of Wales in 1958, but was not installed until 17th June 1968, at Windsor Castle.

Knights of the Garter are chosen personally by the Sovereign to honour those who have held public office, who have contributed in a particular way to national life, or who have served the Sovereign personally.

The Order of the Garter Thistle Star: Worn on the left chest below the Garter Star.

Neck Order: The badge of the Order of the Bath. The Prince of Wales was made Great Master of the Order on 28th May 1975. The title of the Order is late medieval in origin. It arose from the ritual washing (inspired by the washing of baptism), a symbol of spiritual purification, which formed part of a knight's preparations for the conferment of knighthood.

The Order of Merit: Worn on the military braiding on the right side of the chest. The badge is an eight-pointed cross of red and blue enamel surmounted by the imperial crown; in the centre, upon blue enamel and surrounded by a laurel wreath, are the words in gold lettering “For Merit”.

The Order of Merit is a special honour awarded to individuals of great achievement in the fields of the arts, learning, literature and science. It is relatively new and is one of the most coveted of British distinctions. The Order is restricted to 24 members (as well as additional foreign recipients).

As with the Royal Victorian Order, the Order of Merit is in the sole gift of the Sovereign but carries no rank apart from the initials OM after the name. The Prince of Wales was awarded the Order of Merit on 26th June, 2002.

Medals (from left to right):

The Queen’s Service Order (New Zealand) – This awarded 1983
Instituted on 13th March 1975, this order is to recognize valuable voluntary service to the community and meritorious and faithful public services, both in a civilian capacity.

Coronation Medal – This was awarded in 1953 to commemorate The Queen’s Coronation.

Silver Jubilee Medal – This was awarded in 1977 to commemorate The Queen’s 25 years on the Throne.

Golden Jubilee Medal – This was awarded in 2002 to commemorate The Queen’s 50 years on the Throne.

Canadian Forces Decoration – This was awarded in 1991. The Prince has a number of special relationships with Canadian regiments.

The New Zealand Commemorative Medal – These medals were awarded in 1990 and marks The Prince’s special relationship with New Zealand.

Royal Naval Sword

Aiguillettes (ornamental braiding): Worn on the right shoulder as he is Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to The Queen. In any other case it would be worn on the left shoulder.

Titles announced for Prince William and Catherine Middleton

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:00:40 +0000

THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS ISSUED BY THE PRESS SECRETARY TO THE QUEEN

The Queen has today been pleased to confer a Dukedom on Prince William of Wales. His titles will be Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus.

Prince William thus becomes His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge and Miss Catherine Middleton on marriage will become Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge.

Background:

DUKEDOM: Cambridge:

In 1706 George Augustus (subsequently George II) the only son of George Ludwig, Elector of Hanover (subsequently George I of Great Britain) was created with other titles Duke of Cambridge. On the accession of his father to the throne in 1714 he also became Duke of Cornwall and was created Prince of Wales. On his own accession to the throne in 1727 the Dukedom of Cambridge merged with The Crown and ceased.

Cambridge was previously a Royal Dukedom and four sons of James, Duke of York (afterwards James II) who died in infancy were all created Duke of Cambridge. As an Earldom Cambridge was a medieval Royal title. Edward IV was Duke of York and Earl of Cambridge till proclaimed King of England in 1461 when his titles merged with The Crown.

His father and grandfather both Richard Plantagenet were both Earls of Cambridge and the latter was also Duke of York. Edmund of Langley, 5^th son of Edward III and great-grandfather of Edward IV, was created Earl of Cambridge in 1362 and Duke of York in 1385.

The Dukedom of Cambridge created in 1801 became extinct on the death of the 2^nd Duke of Cambridge in 1904. Cambridge existed as a Marquessate from 1917 when it was conferred on Queen Mary’s brother till 1981 when the 2^nd Marquess died and the title became extinct.

EARLDOM: Strathearn

Strathearn has had Royal connections since Robert Stewart, High Steward of Scotland, was created Earl of Strathearn in 1357. In 1371 he succeeded his Uncle as King of Scotland becoming Robert II and the Earldom merged with The Crown Robert II created his 5^th son David, Earl of Strathearn in 1371. Subsequently in 1427 the 6^th son of Robert II was created Earl of Strathearn.

In 1766 George III’s younger brother Prince Henry Frederick was created Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn. He died without issue in 1790 and in 1799 Queen Victoria’s father was created Duke of Kent and Strathearn. These Dukedoms became extinct on his death in 1820. Finally, Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert, 3^rd son of Queen Victoria was created Duke of Connaught and Strathearn in 1874. He died in 1942 and was succeeded by his grandson who died the following year 1943 since when Strathearn as a title has been extinct.

BARONY: Carrickfergus:

An Irish Viscountcy of Chichester of Carrickfergus now held by the Marquess of Donegall was created in 1625 but Carrickfergus alone only existed as a title between 1841 and 1883. The 3^rd Marquess of Donegall was created Baron Ennishowen and Carrickfergus, of Ennishowen, co: Donegal and Carrickfergus, co: Antrim. He died in 1883 being succeeded by his brother and the Barony became extinct.

Carrickfergus is County Antrim’s oldest town. The word means Rock of Fergus andas an urban settlement it predates Belfast. It is on the north shore of Belfast Lough and is the site of Carrickfergus Castle which dates from circa 1180 and is one of the best preserved Castles in Ireland.

The Bridegroom and Best Man Uniforms

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:00:18 +0000

Prince William has chosen to wear the uniform of Colonel of the Irish Guards on his Wedding Day. Prince William, who is commissioned in all three Armed Services, and who has served actively with the Army (The Household Cavalry Regiment) and with the Royal Air Force (Search and Rescue Force), chose to wear the uniform of his senior honorary appointment in the Army.

Prince Harry will wear the uniform of a Captain of the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals).

Prince William’s Uniform

Prince William will wear an Irish Guards Mounted Officer’s uniform in Guard of Honour Order with a Forage Cap.

The Prince will wear a gold and crimson sash, and gold sword slings, both of which are worn in the presence of a Member of the Royal Family. The Prince will not wear a sword.

The Prince will wear the Garter Sash with the Wings of the Royal Air Force, the Garter Star and the Golden Jubilee Medal.

The tunic, in Guards’ Red, features the Irish Guards’ distinctive arrangement of buttons in groups of four. The buttons feature the Harp of Ireland surmounted by the Crown Imperial. The arrangement of buttons on the uniform denotes the Irish Guards’ position in the Order of Battle as the Fourth Regiment of Foot Guards

The Insignia of the Irish Guards on the Forage Cap is the eight-pointed Star of the Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick, and features the Regiment’s motto ‘Quis Separabit?’ (‘Who shall separate us?’).

The uniform was fitted by Kashket and Partners.

Prince Harry’s Uniform

Prince Harry will wear a Blues and Royals officer’s uniform in Dismounted Review Order, with a Forage Cap.

The Prince will wear aiguillettes, a cross-belt and gold waist belt with sword slings, but no sword.

The Prince will wear the Wings of the Army Air Corps and Golden Jubilee and Afghanistan Campaign medals.

The Forage Cap carries the badge of the Blues and Royals, which features the insignia of the Most Noble Order of the Garter with The Queen’s cipher.

Miss Middleton's Wedding Ring

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:00:06 +0000

Prince William and Catherine Middleton chose Wartski to make the Wedding Ring for Miss Middleton.

The ring has been fashioned from a piece of Welsh gold that was given to Prince William by The Queen shortly after the engagement was announced.

The ring will be carried to Westminster Abbey by Prince William’s Best Man Prince Harry on the wedding day.

There will be only one ring, in accordance with the Couple's wishes.

Background

Wartski is a family jewellery business founded in 1865. Its first establishment was in Bangor and later the business moved to the seaside resort of Llandudno.

Wartski supplied the engagement and wedding rings to Queen Elizabeth's grandson Viscount Linley when he married The Hon. Serena Stanhope in 1993. They also made the wedding rings (also of Welsh gold) for The Prince of Wales and Mrs. Camilla Parker-Bowles for their wedding in 2005.

Wartski are long-established grantees of the warrants of HM The Queen and HRH The Prince of Wales.

Share your Royal Wedding experience on Facebook

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:50:27 +0000

The British Monarchy’s Facebook page is inviting you to share your experiences of the Royal Wedding day with thousands of others on Facebook.

Whether you're with the crowds in central London, or having a house party in Tuvalu, send in your pictures and write down your stories. We want people across the world to share their experiences of this historic event on Facebook.

Click here to access the Royal Wedding ‘Your Stories’ application on Facebook.

There is also a Royal Wedding Facebook ‘event’ which you can join to show your support.

Whether you're coming to central London to line the route with millions of others or at home in front of the TV with a few select friends, click 'I'm attending' to join over 10,000 others already confirmed.

The Duchess of Cornwall meets well-wishers on The Mall

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:19:16 +0000

The Duchess of Cornwall went out onto the Mall today to meet well-wishers and those camping out ahead of tomorrow’s event.

When asked how she was feeling ahead of the big day, The Duchess said:

”We’re all ready for tomorrow - it’s wonderful and all very exciting!

"There’s a great atmosphere out here and it’s so nice to meet people and see how the celebrations are getting underway.”

Flower arrangers talk about their work at Westminster Abbey

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:50:37 +0000

Volunteers from the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies discuss their part in preparing flowers for the Royal Wedding.

UK Missions around the world prepare for Royal Wedding

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:45:43 +0000

With just one day to go, the UK's embassies, high commissions and consulates in the Commonwealth and around the world are planning a vast range of activities to celebrate the Royal Wedding and explain why modern Britain is such a creative, open, connected and dynamic country to live, work and visit.

These include receptions, street parties and live screenings to web chats, quizzes and competitions. The British Embassy in Beijing has partnered with Sina - the biggest online web portal in China - to promote the wedding and modern British values, and offer users a fantastic online experience. In Jordan, the team is holding a competition for couples getting married this year, while Brunei is throwing a street party. The British Embassy in Harare is asking the public what they would do if they were King for a day, while Vilnius is hosting the event for participants of the International Award for Young People – Duke of Edinburgh's Award. Sri Lanka has organised a Facebook photo competition around "Sri Lanka-Britain partnerships today", while the consulate in New York has teamed up with the Paley Center for media.

Reflecting the fact that this is a Royal Wedding of the digital age, Heads of Mission are also giving their views ahead of the big day. In a video message, British High Commissioner to New Zealand Vicki Treadell shares her thoughts on the events of this week, while Ambassador to La Paz Nigel Baker discusses tradition and modernity in his latest blog. Judith Macgregor in Mexico recently participated in a webchat with one of Mexico's largest national newspapers.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office is supporting all the official Royal Wedding coverage through its websites and social media channels, including the Royal Wedding video message book and official twitter hashtag #rw2011. UK missions around the world are promoting the Royal Wedding Stories feature via their Facebook pages, enabling people from all over the world to share stories and well wishes for the Royal Couple.

The Wedding will combine both traditional and modern British values. The Foreign Office has produced a short film featuring prominent British and British-based experts in their field explaining how Britain's openness, connectivity, dynamism and creativity have helped them succeed. Contributors include Mustaq Ahmed (cricketer), Raymond Blanc (chef), Kwame Kwei-Armah (actor and playwright) and Zeinab Badawi (news reporter and presenter). Watch the film here.

Ministry of Defence Path-liners

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:00:26 +0000

The Armed Forces personnel who will line the route from Westminster Abbey as His Royal Highness Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton emerge as husband and wife tomorrow have been announced today by the MOD.

The 24 personnel from the Royal Navy, Army and RAF have been chosen because they have a personal connection to Prince William, or because of the outstanding contribution they have given to their Service.

They will line the path outside the Great West Door as the couple emerge, 12 on each side. This morning they visited the Abbey to rehearse their roles.

They are:

Royal Navy

1. Lieutenant Steve Clarke, HMS Vanguard.
2. Lieutenant John Crow, 40 Commando Royal Marines.
3. Lieutenant Jason Hannigan, HMS Daring.
4. Chief Petty Officer Sharon Cummins, HMS Wildfire.
5. Sergeant 'Bernie' Manning, 40 Commando Royal Marines.
6. Leading Physical Trainer Gavin Rees, Royal Naval Leadership Academy.
7. Able Seaman Dennis Brown, HMS Wildfire.
8. Able Seaman Eldon Hughes, HMS Astute.

Leading Physical Trainer Gavin Rees is currently working on the Fit for Life Team in Royal Navy recruiting, and was Prince William's Physical Training Instructor on HMS Iron Duke in 2008. He said:

"My abiding memory of Prince William was that he was always late for circuit training, so I always had to give him extra press ups! Looking back on it now it's amazing to think that I took the future King for circuit training.

"I'm really pleased I've been given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be among the privileged few to line the path into Westminster Abbey. It's a great honour and a memory to look back on and tell the grandchildren."

He also said Prince William was a really genuine bloke who got on with everyone and was great fun.

Army

1. Lieutenant Colonel Brian O'Gorman, Irish Guards.
2. Captain Max Dooher, Irish Guards.
3. Warrant Officer Class 2 Leigh Anderson, Blues and Royals, Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
4. Warrant Officer Class 2 Shaun Fry, Life Guards, Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
5. Warrant Officer Class 2 Byron Gibson, Life Guards, Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
6. Staff Corporal Stephen McWhirter, Blues and Royals, Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
7. Warrant Officer Class 2 Parke, Irish Guards.
8. Guardsman Williams, Irish Guards.

Captain Max Dooher, Irish Guards, said:

"It is an honour to represent the regiment at the wedding of our Colonel, Prince William. As Colonel, he has both sympathised and celebrated with the 1st Battalion during our recent deployment to Afghanistan, so it is appropriate that fellow Micks are there to celebrate and mark this special day.

"Lining the path for a newly-married couple is an honour at any military wedding, and on this occasion the significance is even greater. Every Irish Guardsmen wishes to celebrate the wedding of Colonel William and his new wife; being chosen to be one of the few to show this support from the regiment is a great personal honour."

Royal Air Force

1. Wing Commander Kevin Marsh, RAF Valley.
2. Flight Lieutenant Tom Benson, RAF Leeming.
3. Warrant Officer Peter Hainsworth, RAF Coningsby.
4. Sergeant Kristian Harrison, Headley Court.
5. Sergeant John McClymont, RAF Brampton.
6. Corporal Karen Edwards, RAF Lossiemouth.
7. Lance Corporal Darren Luke, RAF Northolt.
8. Senior Aircraftman Johnathon Freeman, RAF St Athan.

Wing Commander Kevin Marsh mentored Prince William during his time spent with the Royal Air Force in 2008, when he learnt to fly and gained his RAF Wings. He said:

"It is an amazing honour and a privilege to be chosen for such a distinguished, once-in-a-lifetime duty. My wife and I are very excited to be attending the wedding service, and our children and their grandparents will be looking out for us on TV."

More than 1,300 personnel from across the Armed Forces will be playing a key role in the ceremonial elements of the Royal Wedding. This includes guard duties, lining the processional route, musical support through ceremonial bands, and a spectacular seven-aircraft flypast from the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and two Tornado and two Typhoon fast jets.

Representing all of the Armed Forces inside the Abbey will be Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, Chief of the General Staff General Sir Peter Wall and Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton.

Other members of the Armed Forces are attending the wedding service in a private capacity.

Music for the Wedding Service

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 08:00:41 +0000

Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton are pleased to announce the music for their Wedding Service. The music has a largely British theme. The Couple have put considerable thought into selecting the music, and their choices blend traditional music with some newly commissioned pieces.

Before the Service

The music before the Service will begin with a selection of organ pieces: Fantasia in G (Pièce d’orgue à 5) by Johann Sebastian Bach, followed by Veni Creator Spiritus by the Master of The Queen’s Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies; Prelude on St. Columba Op. 28 by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sonata for Organ Op. 28 (Allegro maestoso and Allegretto) by Edward Elgar.

Following this will be seven orchestral pieces:

Serenade for Strings in E minor Op. 20 (Allegro piacevole, Larghetto and Allegretto) by Edward Elgar

Courtly Dance V: Galliard from Gloriana (Symphonic Suite) Op. 53a no. 7 by Benjamin Britten

Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughan Williams

Farewell to Stromness by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies

On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring by Frederick Delius

Touch Her Soft Lips and Part from Henry V Suite by William Walton

Romance for String Orchestra Op. 11 by Gerald Finzi

Three of these pieces – Farewell to Stromness, Touch Her Soft Lips and Part and Romance for String Orchestra Op. 11 – were played at the Service of Prayer and Dedication for The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2005. The Couple specifically chose these pieces for that reason. The final piece of music before the Service begins continues the broadly British theme: Canzona from Organ Sonata in C minor by Percy Whitlock.

Processional Music

The Service will begin with a Fanfare by The State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry to mark the arrival of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. The Fanfare will be followed by three Processionals. For the Procession of The Queen, Prince William and Miss Middleton have chosen March from The Birds by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry. Prelude on Rhosymedre by Ralph Vaughan Williams will accompany the Procession of the Clergy, and was chosen for its Welsh echoes. The Couple have selected ‘I was Glad’, also by Parry, for the Procession of the Bride.

Hymns

Prince William and Miss Middleton have chosen three hymns for the Service: ‘Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer’, words by William Williams, translated by Peter Williams and others, and music by John Hughes. The second will be ‘Love Divine All Love Excelling’, words by Charles Wesley and music by William Penfro Rowlands. The third will be ‘Jerusalem’, by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, words by William Blake. All three hymns have been chosen because they are favourites of the Couple.

The Anthem and Motet

The Anthem, ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made’, has been composed specially for the occasion by John Rutter. It was commissioned by Westminster Abbey as a wedding present for Prince William and Miss Middleton and will be performed by both the Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal Choir. Mr. Rutter is a British composer, conductor, editor and arranger who specialises in choral music.

The Anthem will be followed by the Motet ‘Ubi caritas’ by Paul Mealor, a Welsh composer, who is currently Reader in Composition at The University of Aberdeen.

Mr. Mealor’s composing studio is on the Isle of Anglesey, where Prince William and Miss Middleton live. This version of ‘Ubi caritas’ was written on Anglesey and premiered at the University of St. Andrews in November 2010.

The National Anthem will be sung immediately before the Signing of the Registers.

The Signing of the Registers and the Recessional

During the Signing of the Registers, the choirs will sing ‘Blest pair of Sirens’, words by John Milton from At a Solemn Musick, music by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry.

Following the Signing, there will be a Fanfare by the Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force. The Fanfare, called Valiant and Brave, after the motto of No. 22 Squadron (Search and Rescue Force) was specially composed for this Service by Wing Commander Duncan Stubbs, Principal Director of Music in the Royal Air Force.

The Recessional, for the Procession of the Bride and Bridegroom, will be Crown Imperial by William Walton. Toccata from Symphonie V by Charles-Marie Widor and Pomp and Circumstance March no. 5 by Edward Elgar will follow the Service.

Royal Wedding update: Official programme, including Order of Service, available online

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 08:00:14 +0000

The Official Programme for the wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton is now available for the public to download for free.

The Official Programme includes the full Order of Service (as used by guests in Westminster Abbey), a personal message of thanks from Prince William and Miss Middleton, and a photo of the Couple taken by photographer Mario Testino at the time of the Couple’s engagement. The Official Programme features Prince William’s recently updated Coat of Arms on the front cover and Catherine Middleton’s new Coat of Arms on the back cover.

The Order of Service includes full details about the processions, music, hymns, prayers and readings. The Wedding Service follows the Book of Common Prayer (Alternative Services: Series One). There will be one Lesson during the service, which the Couple have asked James Middleton to read.

The Official Programme will also be available for free electronically in three formats: as a page-turning PDF (using Flash) and an iBook compatible with Apple products, which can be downloaded from the Apple iBookstore. It is also available as an Adobe Acrobat PDF (you will need Adobe Reader to view the file)

On the wedding day, 150,000 copies of the programme will be sold by 60 Explorer Scouts and 80 Cadets (supervised by adults) for £2 per copy at locations in Green Park, Hyde Park, St James’s Park and Trafalgar Square. Profits from the sale of the Official Programme will go to benefit The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry.

Notes to editors

The photo

The Mario Testino photograph cannot be downloaded or reused in any way from the print version, Ceros or iBook. Any organisation wishing to use the imagery should contact Art Partner at: licensing@artpartner.com or gregory@artpartner.com.

The Order of Service

If reprinting the Order of Service, please use the following Copyright acknowledgment:

©The Registrars of the Convocations of Canterbury and York, 1965, 1966.

The copyright of the Alternative Services: Series One, material from which is included in this service, is assigned with effect from 1 July 1978 to the Central Board of Finance of the Church of England, and with effect from 1 January 2005 to The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England.

Sale of the Official Programmes

The Official Programme will be sold at the following locations:

St. James’s Park – Marlborough Gate, North Horse Ride, Storeyard Triangle and Queen Anne’s Gate, as well as four mobile sales units around the park.
Green Park – Green Park Underground Station, as well as two mobile sales units around the park.
Hyde Park – Speakers Corner and at the Fun Fair, as well as two mobile sales units around the park.
Trafalgar Square – opposite South Africa House, as well as one mobile sales unit opposite Canada House on Cockspur Street.

The Programme

The Programme will be A5 in size and printed on Novatech Matt paper (the cover is 250gsm and the inner pages are 150gsm). The paper is FSC stock produced with 100% Elemental Chlorine Free pulp.

The Programme is designed and produced by Haymarket Network Limited.

Cadets from the Greater London Reserve Forces and Cadets Association representing the Combined Cadet Force, Sea Cadet Corps, Army Cadet Force, and Air Training Corps, will be selling the Programmes alongside Explorer Scouts aged 14 to 18 years old from across London.

The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry

The main mission of The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry is to fund projects and organisations that create opportunities so all can achieve their full potential, especially those who are vulnerable or damaged by their circumstances or experiences. The Foundation aims to create lasting change in targeted focus areas and geographies, based on need and the passions and interests of Prince William and Prince Harry. Early priorities for the Foundation are young people in society, sustainable development at home and overseas and the welfare of veterans and their families.

Flower arrangers at Westminster Abbey send a message of congratulations

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:19:54 +0000

Flower arrangers Norma Dobney and Jane Rowton-Lee send a message of congratulations to Prince William and Catherine Middleton ahead of their wedding on Friday. You can do the same by uploading your message to our official video Wedding Book on YouTube.

Flowers at the Abbey

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 18:00:02 +0000

Flowers are being delivered to Westminster Abbey. Six members of the National Association of Flower Arranging Societies help florist Shane Connolly prepare the flowers, all sourced from the UK. The flowers and plants include blossoms, azaleas, rhododendron, euphorbias, beech, wisteria and lilac.

Floral Displays in the Abbey and Buckingham Palace

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:00:25 +0000

Prince William and Miss Middleton have chosen London-based floral designer Shane Connolly to create the floral displays for their wedding on April 29th. Mr. Connolly has directed a team of florists, including Westminster Abbey's and Buckingham Palace's florists, and florists individually chosen by the Couple, to create the floral displays at the Abbey and for Buckingham Palace.

Mr. Connolly was chosen by the Couple owing to his reputation for producing elegant and unique displays, and for his creative approach which focuses on using seasonal, natural and organic flowers. Mr. Connolly is also well known for his sustainable approach to floristry, which incorporates as much as possible the use of growing, rather than cut, plants and trees.

The Couple have taken a close interest in the designs, which follows a theme that pays tribute to the Language of Flowers.

The floral displays in Westminster Abbey feature a variety of seasonal growing and cut British flowers and trees sourced from Royal Estates and other growers around the country. The flowers and plants include blossoms, azaleas, rhododendron, euphorbias, beech, wisteria and lilac.

The floral displays in the Abbey will include eight 20 feet-high trees: six English Field Maple and two Hornbeam. All the trees will be growing in planters, which have also been designed by Mr. Connolly and which were made by craftsmen at Highgrove, The Prince of Wales's Residence in Gloucestershire.

After the wedding, the flowers and plants will be left in position in Westminster Abbey for the public to view until Friday 6th May 2011. Following this, many of the trees will be taken to Highgrove Gardens, where they will be planted. The Couple's intention is that many of the cut plants and flowers and all the growing plants will be donated to charities or re-planted.

Notes to editors

The trees, plants and flowers are being sourced from the Saville Gardens and Valley Gardens in Windsor Great Park, Sandringham Estate and other English growers.

Shane Connolly

Shane Connolly was born and raised in Northern Ireland. He has a lifelong passion for gardening and plants. After reading Psychology at university, he had a complete career change and trained under London's leading floral designers. He set up his business in 1989. Mr. Connolly has worked on a number of events for The Prince of Wales's Household. He was asked by The Duchess of Cornwall to design her bouquet and all the flowers for her marriage to The Prince of Wales in 2005. The company was awarded a Royal Warrant of Appointment to HRH The Prince of Wales in 2006. Shane has written three books. For more information visit www.shaneconnolly.co.uk.

Highgrove Garden

The Prince of Wales has over the last 30 years transformed the grounds of his country residence Highgrove into inspired and innovative gardens. The Prince's strict adherence to organic and sustainable methods has helped create gardens which are both magical and intriguing while being environmentally sound, encouraging both plants and wildlife to thrive. Thirty thousand visitors tour the gardens every year. All the proceeds from the garden tours are donated to the Prince's Charities Foundation. For more information about the Highgrove Gardens visit www.highgrovegardens.com.

National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies (NAFAS)

Six members of NAFAS will also be helping Shane Connolly and his team to decorate Westminster Abbey. NAFAS members have arranged the flowers for special occasions at Westminster Abbey for many years. For more information visit www.nafas.org.uk.

Latest Royal Wedding media briefing download now available

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 09:00:35 +0000

A selected guest list and seating plan is now available in the latest media briefing document. Download the latest Royal Wedding media briefing document.

Seating plan for Westminster Abbey confirmed

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 08:02:35 +0000

The Westminster Abbey Seating Plan has been confirmed.

North Lantern
Miss Middleton's immediate family and friends
Prince William and Miss Middleton's friends
The Spencer Family

South Lantern
The British Royal Family
Members of Foreign Royal Families

North Transept
Prince William and Miss Middleton's friends

South Transept
Governors General
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Middleton Family friends

Stalls North
Representatives of the Church and other Faiths
Prince William and Miss Middleton's Friends

Stall South
Members of the Cabinet· Prince William and Miss Middleton's Friends

North Nave
Guests of the Prince of Wales
Members of the General Congregation

South Nave
Representatives of the Church and other Faiths
Members of the General Congregation

The following Members of the Royal Family will be seated on the front row (South Lantern), in order starting closest to the Sacrarium:

The Queen
The Duke of Edinburgh
The Prince of Wales
The Duchess of Cornwall
Prince Harry.

The following members of the Middleton Family will be seated on the front row (North Lantern), in order starting closest to the Sacrarium:

Mrs. Carole Middleton
Mr. Michael Middleton
Mr. James Middleton.
(The remaining places on the front row are still TBC).

The following members of the Spencer Family will be seated on the front row of their block (North Lantern), in order starting closest to the Sacrarium:

The Lady Sarah McCorquodale
Mr. Neil McCorquodale
Mrs. Anne Wake-Walker
The Lord Robert Fellowes
The Lady Jane Fellowes
The Earl Spencer
Miss Karen Gordon.

Selected Guest List for the Wedding Service at Westminster Abbey

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 08:00:00 +0000

The following are all confirmed attendees at the Royal Wedding as of 23rd April 2011.

Members of the British Royal Family

The Queen
The Duke of Edinburgh
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall
Prince Henry of Wales
The Duke of York
Princess Beatrice of York
Princess Eugenie of York
The Earl and Countess of Wessex
The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Phillips
Miss Zara Phillips with Mr. Mike Tindall
Viscount Linley and Viscountess Linley
And The Hon. Charles Armstrong-Jones
The Lady Sarah Chatto and Mr. Daniel Chatto
And Master Samuel Chatto
And Master Arthur Chatto
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester
The Earl and Countess of Ulster
The Lady Davina and Mr. Gary Lewis
Lady Rose and Mr. George Gilman
The Duke and Duchess of Kent
Earl and Countess of St. Andrews
Lord Downpatrick
The Lady Marina-Charlotte Windsor
The Lady Amelia Windsor
The Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor
The Lady Helen Taylor and Mr. Timothy Taylor
Prince and Princess Michael of Kent
The Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor
The Lady Gabriella Windsor
Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy
Mr. and Mrs. James Ogilvy
Miss Marina Ogilvy
The Lady Saltoun

Members of Foreign Royal Families

The Prince and Princess of the Asturias
The Crown Prince of Bahrain
Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium
The Sultan of Brunei and Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha
King Simeon II and Queen Margarita of the Bulgarian
The Queen of Denmark
King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes
Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece and Prince Constantine of Greece
Sheikh Ahmad Hmoud Al-Sabah of Kuwait
Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso and Princess Mabereng Seeiso of Lesotho
The Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong of Malaysia
Prince Albert II of Monaco and Miss Charlene Wittstock
Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco
The Crown Prince and Princess of The Netherlands
The King and Queen of Norway
Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said of Oman
The Emir of The State of Qatar and Sheika Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned
King Michael I of Romania and Crown Princess Margarita
Prince Mohamed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and Princess Fadwa bint Khalid bin Abdullah bin Abdulrahman
The Queen of Spain
The King of Swaziland
The Crown Princess of Sweden and The Duke of Västergötland
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand
The King of Tonga
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi
Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia
The Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia

Dignitaries

The Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda
The Governor-General of Australia and His Excellency Mr. Michael Bryce
The Governor-General of The Bahamas and Lady Foulkes
The Governor-General of Barbados
The Governor-General of Belize and Lady Young
The Governor-General of Canada and Mrs. David Johnston
The Governor-General of Jamaica
The Governor-General of New Zealand and Lady Satyanand
The Governor-General of Papua New Guinea and Mrs Michael Ogio
The Governor-General of the Solomon Islands and Lady Kabui
The Governor-General of St Christopher and Nevis
The Governor-General of St Lucia
The Governor-General of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Lady Ballantyne

The Prime Minister of Australia and Mr. Tim Mathieson
The Prime Minister of The Bahamas and Ms Delores Miller
The Prime Minister of Barbados
The Prime Minister of New Zealand and Mrs. John Key
The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and Lady Somare
The Prime Minister of Saint Lucia and Mrs. Rosalia Nestor King
The Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and The Grenadines and Mrs. Ralph Gonsalves

The Premier of Bermuda and Mr. Germain Nkeuleu
The Premier of The British Virgin Islands and Mrs. Ralph O'Neal
The Premier of the Cayman Islands and Mrs. Kerry Bush
The Hon. Sharon and Mr. Rodney Halford (Falkland Islands)
The Chief Minister of Gibraltar and Mrs. Peter Caruana
The Chief Minister of Montserrat and the Reverend Doctor Joan Delsol Meade
The Hon. John and Mrs. Vilma Cranfield (St. Helena)

Members of Government, Parliament and Devolved Administrations

The Prime Minister and Mrs. David Cameron
The Deputy Prime Minister and Ms. Miriam Gonzalez Duantez
First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Mrs. William Hague
The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Hon. Mrs. Osborne
The Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor and Mrs. Kenneth Clarke
The Secretary of State for the Home Department and Minister for Women and Equalities, and Mr. Philip May
The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport and Mrs. Jeremy Hunt
The Rt. Hon Ed Miliband, M.P and Ms. Justine Thornton
The Speaker of the House of Commons and Mrs. John Bercow
The Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales and the Lady Elis-Thomas
The Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament and Mrs. Alex Fergusson
The Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Mrs. William Hay
The Lord Speaker and Mr. Martin Hayman
First Minister of Wales and Mrs. Carwyn Jones
First Minister of Northern Ireland and Mrs. Peter Robinson
First Minister of Scotland and Mrs. Alex Salmond
The Mayor of London and Mrs. Boris Johnson
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor and The Lady Mayoress
Sir Gus and Lady O'Donnell
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor of Westminster and Count Paolo Filo della Torre
Mr. and Mrs. Simon Fraser

Representatives from the Church and other Faiths

The Most Reverend Gregorious, Archbishop of the Greek Archdiocese of Thysteira and Great Britain
The Archbishop of Canterbury and Mrs. Rowan Williams
Rabbi Anthony Bayfield
Mr. Anil Bhanot
The Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Archbishop Sean Brady
Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, The Most Reverend David Chillingworth
The Right Reverend John Christie, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Mr. Malcolm Deboo President, Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe
The Rt. Reverend Doctor Norman Hamilton
The Archbishop of Armagh, The Most Reverend Alan Edwin Harper
Monsignor Philip Kerr, The Convener, Action of Churches Together in Scotland
Commissioner Elizabeth Matear, Salvation Army
The Archbishop of Wales, The Most Reverend Doctor Barry Morgan
The Reverend Gareth Morgan Jones, President of the Free Church Council of Wales
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-Connor
The Archbishop of Westminster, The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols
Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh
Rabbi Alan Plancey
Imam Mohammad Raza
The Chief Rabbi (Lord Sacks)
The Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala, Acting Head Monk, The London Buddhist Vihara
Maulana Syed Raza Shabbarm, Muhammadi Trust
Mr. Natubhai Shah, President, the Jain Academy
Dr Indarjit Singh, Director, Network Sikh Organisations (UK)
Canon Chirstopher Tuckwell
The Reverend Martin Turner
The Archbishop of York and Mrs. John Sentamu

Senior Members of the Defence Services

Major General and Mrs. William Cubitt, Major General Commanding Household Division and GOC London District
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen and Lady Dalton, Chief of the Air Staff
General Sir Nicholas and Lady Houghton
Air Vice-Marshal the Hon. David and Mrs. Murray, Defence Services Secretary
General Sir David and Lady Richards, Chief of the Defence Staff
Admiral Sir Mark and Lady Stanhope, First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff
General Sir Peter and Lady Wall, Chief of the General Staff

Amongst the guests at The Wedding Service are all Heads of Mission in London representing countries with which the United Kingdom has normal diplomatic relations and Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenants for the United Kingdom. These individuals will not be accompanied by their spouses or partners.

Other guests at The Wedding Service, who may be recognisable to television viewers or whom have an official link to Prince William or Miss Middleton include the names below. Please note that this list is not exhaustive of any of the categories of guests – charitable, military, friends or any other category – invited.

All the following individuals have been invited with their spouses or partners if married or in a civil partnership:

Mr. David Allan
David Allan is the Chairman of Mountain Rescue, England and Wales. Prince William has been Patron of the organisation since 2007.

Major Tom Archer-Burton
Major Archer Burton was Prince William and Prince Harry's Commanding Officer in the Household Cavalry. He also led the Burnaby Blue expedition to southern Africa – an African community project supported by Sentebale, in which Prince Harry was involved.

Mr. Charlie Mayhew
Charlie Mayhew is Chief Executive of the Conservation Charity, Tusk Trust. Prince William and Prince Harry visited Tusk-funded projects in Botswana last year. The visit to Africa was the first overseas Royal tour that Prince William and Prince Harry undertook together.

Mrs. Alison Moore-Gwyn
Alison Moore Gwyn is Chief Executive of Fields in Trust. In 2010, Prince William became Patron of The Queen Elizabeth II Fields, an initiative to protect and create hundreds of playing fields throughout the UK in honour of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The project is run by Fields in Trust.

Mr. Seyi Obakin
Seyi Obakin is Chief Executive of Centrepoint. Centrepoint became Prince William's first Patronage in 2005. His mother, Diana, Princess of Wales was also Patron of the Charity. Seyi slept rough with Prince William in London to highlight the issue of homelessness.

Mr. Peter Cross
Peter Cross is Chief Executive of the charity SkillForce, of which Prince William has been Patron since 2009. Earlier this month, Prince William officially launched the SkillForce Prince's Award, in recognition of the contribution that young people make to their communities.

Miss Amanda Berry
Amanda Berry is Chief Executive of BAFTA. Prince William has been President of BAFTA since 2010.

Mrs. Ann Chalmers
Ann Chalmers is Chief Executive of the Child Bereavement Charity. Prince William has been Patron of the Charity since 2009. The Child Bereavement Charity educates professionals and supports families both when a child dies and when a child is bereaved.

Mrs. Julia Samuel
Julia Samuel is Chair of the Child Bereavement Charity and also a family friend of Prince William. Prince William has been Patron of the Charity since 2009. The Child Bereavement Charity educates professionals and supports families both when a child dies and when a child is bereaved.

Mrs. Tessa Green
Tessa Green is former Chairman of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Prince William became President of The Royal Marsden in May 2007 having undertaken two days of work experience there in 2005. The Prince helped out in a variety of departments, including medical research, catering and fundraising.

Mr. Simon Johnson
Simon Johnson worked closely with Prince William as Chief Operating Officer of the FA's 2018 World Cup bid.

Sir Trevor Brooking
Sir Trevor is the Football Association's Director of Football Development and is responsible for youth-coaching standards in England. Prince William has been President of the FA since 2006 and has met Sir Trevor on several occasions at FA events.

Sir Clive Woodward
Sir Clive Woodward is a former Coach of the England Rugby Team and the British and Irish Lions. Prince William was invited by Sir Clive to join the British and Irish Lions rugby team on their tour to New Zealand in 2005.

Mr. Gareth Thomas
Prince William met Welsh Rugby player Gareth Thomas several times in his role as Vice Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union.

Mr. Ian Thorpe
Australian Prince William met the Olympic swimmer, Ian Thorpe, on a visit to Australia in 2010. The Prince has since supported Mr. Thorpe's charitable organisation Ian Thorpe's Fountain for Youth, which focuses on improving health and education for children.

Mr. Barty Pleydell-Bouverie
Barty Pleydell-Bouverie led the Cycle of Life charity bike ride across Africa in 2008, which raised money for the Tusk Trust.

Rear Admiral Ian Corder
Rear Admiral Ian Corder is Rear Admiral of Submarines. Prince William was appointed Commodore-in-Chief of Submarines by The Queen in 2006.

Brigadier Ed Smyth-Osbourne
Brigadier Smyth-Osbourne was Prince William and Prince Harry's Commanding Officer in the Household Regiment and acted as their military mentor. He was also Prince Harry's Commanding Officer when The Prince undertook active service in Afghanistan.

Major William Bartle-Jones
Major Bartle-Jones was Prince William's Squadron Leader in the Household Cavalry Regiment based at Windsor.

Wing Commander Steven Bentley
Wg Cdr Steve Bentley is Prince William's Search and Rescue Force Squadron Leader at RAF Valley, Anglesey.

Sergeant Keith Best
Sgt Keith Best is a colleague of Prince William's at RAF Valley, in Anglesey, North Wales. The Winchman was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Bravery in the Air after playing a major role in the rescue efforts in the Cumbrian floods in 2009.

Squadron Leader Paul Bolton
Sqn Ldr Paul Bolton is a colleague of Prince William's at RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales.

Wing Commander Kevin Marsh
Wing Commander Kevin Marsh met Prince William through his service in the RAF. He will be one of the Path Liners outside Westminster Abbey on the wedding day.

Lance-Corporal Martyn Compton
Martyn is a Lance-Corporal in the Household Cavalry. He was injured in an ambush in Afghanistan in 2006, which put him in a coma for three months and left him with 75 per cent burns.

Miss Holly Dyer
Holly is sister to 2nd Lieutenant Joanna Dyer, who was killed by a bomb in Iraq in 2007. Joanna was a close friend of Prince William's at Sandhurst. In a statement released by Clarence House at the time, Prince William said he was "deeply saddened to hear the tragic news and he is very much thinking of her family and friends right now and they will remain in his thoughts and prayers."

Mrs. Susie Roberts
Susie Roberts is the widow of Major Alexis Roberts, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2007. Major Alexis Roberts was Prince William's Platoon Commander at Sandhurst. In a statement released at the time, Prince William said he was deeply saddened to learn of Major Robert's Death. The Prince remembers him with 'great fondness and respect'.

Mr. and Mrs. Bryn Parry
Former soldier Bryn Parry and his wife Emma founded the charity Help for Heroes to assist wounded service men and women. Both Prince William and Prince Harry are supporters of the charity and Prince William previously opened a new swimming pool at Headley Court in 2010, which had been funded by Help for Heroes.

Mr. Edward Gould
Mr. Edward Gould was Master of Marlborough College whilst Miss Middleton was a student.

Dr. Andrew Gailey
Dr Andrew Gailey is the Vice-Provost of Eton College and was Prince William's Housemaster.

The Hon. Edward Dawson-Damer
Australian Ed Dawson-Damer is an ex-Irish Guards officer, who was Equerry to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in the 1980's. He hosted Prince William for a section of his visit to Australia in January 2010.

Mr. Sam Stevenson
New Zealander Sam Stevenson was Prince William's New Zealand equerry during his visit to the country in July 2005. At the time, Sam was a Captain within the New Zealand Defence Forces. During the visit, Prince William undertook official engagements representing The Queen in Wellington and Auckland at events to commemorate the end of the Second World War.

Sir John Major
Following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, Sir John Major was appointed a Guardian to Prince William and Prince Harry with responsibility for legal and administrative matters.

Mr. Rowan Atkinson
Actor Rowan Atkinson is a close friend of The Prince of Wales.

Mr. Tom Bradby
The journalist and news reporter Tom Bradby has known both Prince William and Miss Middleton for some time. He conducted their first joint interview together on the day their engagement was announced.

Mr. Ben Fogle
Ben Fogle is best known as a travel writer, television presenter and adventurer and has met Prince William on a number of occasions.

Sir Elton John
Sir Elton John is a singer-songwriter, composer and pianist. He performed at the funeral of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

Mr. and Mrs. David Beckham
Prince William, as President of the Football Association, has met footballer David Beckham on a number of occasions. They recently worked together as Ambassadors of England's 2018 World Cup Bid.

Mr. Guy Ritchie
Guy Ritchie is a friend of Prince William and Miss Middleton. He is a well-established filmmaker, who directed Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and Revolver.

Miss Joss Stone
Joss Stone is best known as an English Soul singer and songwriter. She performed at the Concert for Diana at Wembley in 2007 and at City Salute in 2008.

Mr. Mario Testino
Photographer Mario Testino took Prince William and Miss Middleton's official portrait photographs to mark their engagement.

Miss Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
Tara Palmer Tomkinson is a friend of The Prince of Wales and his family.

Mr. Sam Waley-Cohen
Amateur jockey Sam Waley Cohen is a friend of Prince William and Miss Middleton.

Mr. Galen Weston
Canadians Galen and Hilary Weston are friends of The Prince of Wales and his family.

The Archbishop of Canterbury on the Royal Wedding

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:03:38 +0000

The Archbishop of Canterbury talks about the importance and significance of marriage ahead of the Royal Wedding on 29th April.

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment carries out final preparations

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:02:12 +0000

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment has completed a string of major rehearsals in Hyde Park, including Commander Household Cavalry’s Inspection and the Major General’s Review. The rehearsals enabled the Regiment to continue training for the Royal Wedding.

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment are now commencing rehearsals specific to the Royal Wedding escorts. Working in conjunction with colleagues in The Royal Mews, practices have now taken place employing several carriages replicating the ones that will be used on the big day.

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment has also been training the horses in preparation for the wedding day.

Capt James Hulme said: “Past reports from such large scale national celebrations have highlighted the huge noise from the crowds, and when riding towards Westminster Abbey, we expect to have to ride through a wall of sound. Apparently it is like riding horses though the middle of a rock concert.”

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment will be using around 150 ‘cavalry blacks’ on the Royal Wedding. A mixture of Thoroughbred, and the steady Irish Draught, the horses all stand at over 16 hands tall.

Lt. Col Dan Hughes said: “We are almost there, just a few finishing touches to rehearse. There will be some tricky close manoeuvring required on the day, and the horses still need some more crowd work, both things that we are currently working on. The soldiers and officers have been working incredibly hard and cannot wait until their training pays off, by taking part in the event of the decade.”

View more photos from the rehearsals below:

Follow the progress of final stage preparations at www.facebook.com/hcmr

Photo taken by Lynne Draper.

Royal Mail launches commemorative wedding stamps

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:00:59 +0000

Royal Mail has launched a special sheet of stamps to commemorate the forthcoming Royal Wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton.

From today, the stamps are available from all Post Office branches.

The stamps feature the official engagement portraits taken by photographer Mario Testino on 25^th November.

Further information can be found at www.royalmail.com/royalwedding

Her Majesty The Queen gives formal consent to the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:00:21 +0000

Her Majesty The Queen gave formal consent to Prince William and Catherine Middleton’s marriage today.

Under the Great Seal of the Realm, The Queen signed a notice of approval which proclaimed, in transcribed calligraphy, consent to the union of "Our Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales, K.G. and Our Trusty and Well-beloved Catherine Elizabeth Middleton".

Tied to the bottom of the approval by gold braiding is a large red wax Great Seal of the Realm.

The law dates back to the 18th Century.

Under the Royal Marriages Act 1772, all descendants of King George II must obtain the Sovereign's agreement before they wed.

The "Instrument of Consent" features decorative artwork chosen by the artist to represent the groom and bride-to-be.

A white lily represents St. Catherine of Siena, whose feast day falls on April 29th and with whom Miss Middleton shares her name.

Beneath it is a Welsh leek surrounded by Prince William's white three-pronged second in line to the throne label and a tiny red escallop from the Spencer family Arms.

There is also a red dragon - the heraldic symbol of Wales, the UK's floral emblems - the rose, thistle and shamrock - and the Garter belt, Prince William's blue and gold Order of the Garter belt, as well as a large gold E for Elizabeth.

The Queen's signature "Elizabeth R" can be seen at the top right of the Instrument of Consent, which is dated "the ninth day of February Two Thousand and Eleven in the Sixtieth year of Our Reign".

It was signed "by The Queen herself, signed with her own hand" at a Privy Council meeting after the Monarch made a formal Declaration of Consent.

It reads: "NOW KNOW YE that We have consented and do by these Presents signify Our Consent to the contracting of Matrimony between Our Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales K.G. and Our Trusty and Well-beloved Catherine Elizabeth Middleton."

The Royal Wedding Official Photographer

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:01:50 +0000

HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton have selected Hugo Burnand to be their official photographer at their wedding on the 29th April. Mr Burnand will be take the official photographs at Buckingham Palace following the wedding at Westminster Abbey.

Mr Burnand has photographed Prince William privately before and was the official photographer at the wedding of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall 2005. He also took the official 60th birthday photograph of The Prince of Wales.

A well known portrait photographer, Hugo Burnand has also photographed Lucien Freud, Lady Thatcher, Victoria Beckham and John Magnier. Mr Burnand regularly works with Conde Nast Publications including House & Garden Magazine and Tatler.

Born in 1963, Hugo is married to Louisa and they have four children. Hugo learnt the basics of photography from his mother Ursy, who used to turn their kitchen at home into a dark room in the evenings and started with his first camera at age of seven.

He attended Harrow School and after spending 10 years travelling through America, France and Ireland as a stable hand and a brief job at Lloyds of London. Hugo became a photographer's assistant to Julian Calder. Hugo later set up his own studio in Notting Hill.

The Band of the Coldstream Guards set to entertain crowds along the procession route

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:00:54 +0000

Entertainment in the form of show tunes, pop songs and sing-along ditties will be provided to crowds lined along the wedding procession route on the day of the Royal Wedding.

The Band of the Coldstream Guards are aiming to create a lively atmosphere on the day.

On the wedding day more than five military bands from across the three services will be stationed at various points along the route from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey.

Lieutenant Colonel Graham Jones, is the Band of the Coldstream's Director of Music.

He is also senior director of music Household Division and is responsible for all five foot guards' bands - Scots, Welsh, Irish, Coldstream and Grenadier - who play at major ceremonial events like Trooping the Colour and the State Opening of Parliament.

During a rehearsal today, the Band of the Coldstream Guards led F company Scots
Guards as they marched from their Wellington Barracks to nearby Buckingham Palace for the Changing the Guard ceremony.

Crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace to watch the soldiers pass.

Royal Wedding invitation

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:00:41 +0000

The Royal Household invites you to watch the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on the 29th of April from 10am London Time. Live on The Royal Channel.

The Royal Weddding video message book

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:00:21 +0000

Send your congratulatory messages to Prince William and Catherine Middleton ahead of their wedding day by uploading your video to the Royal Wedding video book on The Royal Channel.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: A video by Earthwatch

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:00:12 +0000

Earthwatch Institute is an international charity that brings science to life for people concerned about the Earth's future.

It is one of the charities to benefit from Prince William and Catherine Middleton's Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund.

Visit the Earthwatch website: http://www.earthwatch.org/

An update: The Royal Wedding Online

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:01:21 +0000

Live updates and unique material from the wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton will be released through a range of online platforms, providing the most digital and interactive coverage of a Royal Wedding to date.

The range of social media around the event will include the Official Royal Wedding website, the British Monarchy Flickr account, Twitter (@ClarenceHouse), The Royal Channel on YouTube and the British Monarchy Facebook page; and is in line with the Couple’s wishes to make the wedding as accessible as possible for as many people as want to participate.

Watching the Wedding

Live streaming on The Royal Channel

For the first time, broadcast footage of a royal wedding will be live streamed on The Royal Channel on YouTube (www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel), accompanied by a live multi-media blog put together by St. James’s Palace.

The Royal Channel will host a live stream 'gadget', produced by Google, which will stream the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton live on the day from 10am until 2pm. This will include the Couple’s journey to and from Westminster Abbey, the Wedding Service, balcony appearance and the fly past.

The feed will be taken from the BBC without a broadcaster's commentary. Staff at Clarence House and St. James’s Palace will provide a live commentary with historical information, interesting links, additional photographs and video footage as well as an integrated Twitter feed. This will be the first time a live blog has run alongside a live stream on YouTube for any occasion.

Flickr

www.flickr.com/photos/britishmonarchy

Additional photographs related to the Royal Wedding will be released in the coming weeks and on the day. These will include landmarks on the processional route, hidden corners of Westminster Abbey and unusual views from inside and outside Buckingham Palace.

The Royal Wedding website

Detailed announcements made on the day of the wedding will be published on the Official Royal Wedding website (www.officialroyalwedding2011.org), alongside all the official information released about the wedding to date.

The website provides exclusive content, including never-before-seen photographs of Catherine Middleton. Since its launch, more than eight million pages have been viewed so far (15th April figure).

Interacting with the Royal Wedding

Official “Video wedding book”

An official video "Wedding Book" on YouTube, launched today, invites anyone to submit their own video of congratulations to the Couple. The video messages will provide a unique memento of the day for the Couple.

Twitter

The @ClarenceHouse Twitter account will provide live updates on the day of the wedding, and will be integrated into the live blog on the live stream and the wedding website. Alongside the video message option, anyone wanting to send the couple a message of congratulations on Twitter may do so using the hashtag #rw2011.

The British Monarchy’s Facebook page

The British Monarchy page on Facebook www.facebook.com/TheBritishMonarchy
has been redesigned to provide followers with reliable and up-to-date information about the Royal Wedding, and will be updated hourly on the day.

The British Monarchy’s Facebook page has created a Facebook ‘event’ of which anyone can be part. Facebook users can click the ‘I’m attending’ button on ‘The Royal Wedding’ event to show their interest in the event and will become part of a community of Facebook users celebrating the wedding across the world.

A ‘Stories’ app will also launch approximately a week before the wedding, asking people to describe how they are preparing for the event and then, on the day itself, how they are celebrating. Whether they are joining the crowds in central London, or having a house party in Canada, the Stories project will allow people to be part of this historic event by sharing their experiences with others on Facebook. To access the facility, Facebook users will need to go to www.facebook.com/TheBritishMonarchy and then select the ‘Wedding Stories’ tab. Users will be able to access the facility until 6 May 2011.

Notes to editors:

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.

New Coat of Arms for Miss Middleton and her family

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:00:41 +0000

Miss Catherine Middleton has a new Coat of Arms in advance of her wedding to Prince William. Miss Middleton’s Coat of Arms derives from one which is being granted to her father, Mr. Michael Middleton. The design of the Arms was agreed and approved by Mr. Thomas Woodcock (Garter King of Arms and Senior Herald in England), who is based at the College of Arms in London.

The Middleton Family worked closely with the College of Arms throughout the design process to create a Coat of Arms that was personal to them and visually identified them as a family.

The three acorns represent Mr. and Mrs. Middleton’s three children (Catherine, Philippa and James). Acorns were chosen because the area in which the children were brought up – West Berkshire, England – is surrounded by oak trees. Additionally, oak is a long-established symbol of both ‘England’ and ‘Strength.’

The gold chevron, which sits at the centre of the design, represents Mrs. Middleton, whose maiden name is Goldsmith. The two thinner chevrons, which sit either side of the gold chevron, allude to hills and mountains and represent outdoor pursuits that the family enjoy together. The colours blue and red were chosen as they are the principle colours from the flag of the United Kingdom.

Miss Middleton’s Coat of Arms has been presented in the form of a ‘lozenge’ and is shown suspended from a ribbon, which indicates that she is an unmarried daughter.

Mr. Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms said:

“Mr. and Mrs. Middleton and their children took enormous interest in this design and, while its purpose is to provide a traditional heraldic identity for Catherine, as she marries into the Royal Family, the intent was to represent the whole Middleton family together, their home and aspects of what they enjoy.

“Every Coat of Arms has been designed to identify a person, school or organisation, and to last forever: heraldry is Europe's oldest, most visual and strictly regulated form of identity and it surrounds us in Britain, giving clues to our history and surroundings. After her marriage, Catherine Middleton will place her father’s Arms beside those of her husband in what is known as an impaled Coat of Arms. This will require a Royal Warrant from The Queen."

The Grant of Arms has been made to Mr. Michael Middleton and his descendants in accordance with the laws of Arms, so all of his three children, including Catherine, are entitled to the Arms. Mr. James Middleton (Catherine’s brother) will pass the right on to his descendants.

Notes to editors:

An image of Catherine Middleton’s Coat of Arms is available from the Press Association.

The technical heraldic description of the Middleton Coat of Arms, known as a ‘blazon’ is Per pale Azure and Gules a Chevron Or cotised Argent between three Acorns slipped and leaved Or. Per Pale means that the Shield is divided vertically with one half blue (Azure) and the other half red (Gules). A Chevron Or means the gold chevron across the centre of the Shield. There are cotises either side of the chevron which are white (Argent). Slipped means ‘with a stalk,’ so the final part of the blazon – and distinguishing feature of the Shield – means three acorns with gold stalks and leaves.

Coats of Arms are granted under the Sovereign’s authority. Since the fifteenth century, this has been delegated to three Kings of Arms in England. They now have jurisdiction over England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, Coats of Arms are granted by Lord Lyon King of Arms.

Like all applicants, Mr. Middleton started the process by submitting his request to England’s Earl Marshal, The Duke of Norfolk, who issued a warrant to the Kings of Arms agreeing to the granting of new Arms. In this case it fell to Garter and Clarenceux Kings of Arms (two of the three Kings of Arms) to grant the Middleton Coat of Arms by Letters Patent, as the Middleton Family live south of the River Trent, the historic division between north and south in England.

The Official Souvenir Wedding Programme

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:00:10 +0000

A souvenir Official Programme will be published to mark the marriage of Prince William with Miss Catherine Middleton. Official Programmes have long been a Royal tradition, and they were produced to mark the weddings of The Prince and Princess of Wales in 1981 and The Duke and Duchess of York in 1986.

The Programme will include the full Order of Service (as used by guests in the Abbey), a personal message of thanks from Prince William and Catherine Middleton, and a never-before-seen photo of the couple taken by photographer Mario Testino. The Official Programme will feature Prince William’s Coat of Arms on the front cover and Catherine Middleton’s new Coat of Arms on the back.

The Programme will be sold by 60 Explorer Scouts and 80 Cadets (supervised by adults) for £2 per copy at various locations along the wedding route and surrounding area on the 29th April. Proceeds from the sale of the Official Programme will go to benefit the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry.

The Programme will also be available to download for free from the Official Royal Wedding website, www.officialroyalwedding2011.org, from 24 hours before the Wedding.

Haymarket Network was chosen to design and produce the official programme on behalf of the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry.

Notes to editors:

Cadets and Scouts

Cadets from the Greater London Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association representing the Combined Cadet Force, Sea Cadet Corps, Army Cadet Force, and Air Training Corps, will be selling the programmes alongside Explorer Scouts aged 14 to 18 years old from across London.

In addition to Explorer Scouts supplying programmes to the public 250 Beaver Scouts, Cub Scouts and Scouts from as far as Manchester, Bradford, Carmarthen, Warwickshire and Cardiff will also be travelling to London to take part in the celebrations for the Royal Wedding.

The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry

The Foundation’s mission is to fund projects and organisations that create opportunities so all can achieve their full potential, especially those who are vulnerable or damaged by their circumstances or experiences. The Foundation aims to create lasting change in targeted focus areas and geographies, based on need and the passions and interests of Prince William and Prince Harry. Early priorities for the Foundation are young people in society, sustainable development at home and overseas and the welfare of veterans and their families.

Westminster Abbey releases new app for Royal Wedding

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:00:57 +0000

Westminster Abbey has released a new app ahead of the Royal Wedding, giving users the chance to virtually tour the Abbey.

Abbey 3D, available on Android, iPhone and iPad, features an internal scaled replica of Westminster Abbey in a way which enables users to feel as if they are visiting the church where ever they happen to live or happen to be. It uses the latest laser scanning technology combined with 3D modelling.

The app opens at the Great West Door, the spot where Catherine Middleton will start her walk down the aisle with her father to the High Altar. Flashing up along the way are "hotspots" of information about key areas of the Abbey, such as the Grave of the Unknown Warrior, and their significance on the day of the wedding.

Archive pictures and potted biographies on key participants at the Royal Wedding will be on the app, as well as a cross-section birds-eye view of the Abbey showing the layout of the church.

To read the full press release, visit http://bit.ly/euczcp

Watch the Abbey 3D demo video:

The Chapel Royal Choir prepares for the Royal Wedding

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:00:13 +0000

The Chapel Royal Choir prepares for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Canada Post unveils Royal Wedding stamps

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:00:03 +0000

Canada Post has unveiled two stamps—one domestic and one international—to celebrate the upcoming wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

The stamps will be issued on the day of the Royal Wedding.

The last Royal Wedding stamp by Canada Post was issued in 1948.

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment prepares for the Royal Wedding

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:00:38 +0000

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment have been busy rehearsing for their role in the Royal Wedding today.

Two of the horses taking part in the ceremony, are named after Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Captain James Hulme will be riding William in one of four divisions of the Household Cavalry, which will make up the Sovereign's Escort accompanying The Queen and other Members of the Royal Family in their carriages from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace after the wedding service.

The Wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton: An update

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:00:13 +0000

Ceremonial Timings

The following timings have been confirmed for the Wedding Day:

Between 8.15am and 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 Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence
                 - The Duke of York
                 - Princess Eugenie of York
                 - Princess Beatrice of York
                 - The Earl and Countess of Wessex

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.

Notes

Miss Catherine Middleton, accompanied by her immediate family, will spend the night before the Wedding at the Goring Hotel. This was the Middleton family’s personal choice.

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

All routes to and from Westminster Abbey are as already announced: The Mall, Horse Guards Road, Horse Guards Parade, through Horse Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Square (south side), Broad Sanctuary. The additional route from the Goring Hotel to The Mall is yet to be confirmed.

The Wedding Service will be relayed by audio speakers along the Route. This is in addition to the screens already announced at Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square. More information for members of the public wishing to watch the Wedding Service in central London is available at www.direct.gov.uk/royalwedding

Further information about the Ceremonial aspects of the day, including passengers in the Carriage Procession, will be made available closer to the Wedding Day.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Help and Care at Home

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:00:58 +0000

The Scottish Community Foundation

Since 1996, the Scottish Community Foundation has been working with people and organisations to help them give to good causes effectively and inexpensively.

Case Study: Crossroads Dunfermline

Care Scotland estimates that there are 660,000 people in Scotland caring for an ill or frail loved one. Caring is a 24/7 job. Families with caring responsibilities are often isolated and struggle with the demands of offering full-time care. To ease this pressure for families in Fife, Crossroads Dunfermline offers a free, home-based respite service.

“We work with a wide a wide range of clients,” says Val Johnston of Crossroads Dunfermline. “For example we visit people living with mental health issues, the effects of a stroke, cancer or physical illnesses. For a few hours a week we go to their homes and take on the responsibility of their care.”

“We typically offer between two and four hours of care to our clients. This gives their carers some time to themselves. One of our clients is a family with several members in need of care. We visit them once a month to give the carers an evening off which they are really grateful for.”

Along with the care they offer in the home, Crossroads also offers some of their more mobile clients some freedom by taking them to the post office or doctor’s surgery, and to more interesting places like the local garden centre.

“Along with care, we also offer companionship, particularly for our elderly clients. They can rely on a visit from us every week, and it gives them something to look forward to,” Val continues.

Crossroads offers a free service to over 100 clients every year in Dunfermline and west Fife, and it has a waiting list of 50 people.

“It is important that we offer a free service to make sure that those who really need it can get our help. We receive funding from Fife Council and NHS Scotland, but we’re always looking for new ways to raise funds so we can start reducing our waiting list.”

Crossroads Dunfermline is registered with the Care Commission so carers can have some peace of mind while they get an hour or two of respite. It has also adopted the Crossroads Scotland Quality Assurance System (Croqas) to make sure its care assistants are trained to deliver a professional service.

Case study: Home Start East Fife, St. Andrews

Families with children under five can find life difficult at times, which in extreme cases can lead to family breakdowns and crisis. This can often be prevented with the support of someone who can share the responsibility and be there to listen and advise.

Based in St. Andrews, Home Start East Fife has been offering local families weekly support, friendship and practical help for over twenty years. They step in to help take the strain off parents that may be struggling as a result of having one or more child under five.

“Families are typically referred to us by their health visitors or GP,” says Joanna Roddam, Home Start’s senior coordinator. “They can be referred to us for many reasons. Some are socially isolated, while others might have emotional or health problems, but often there are no greater issues in the family, they just need an extra hand to get them through a difficult time.”

Home-Start’s home-visiting volunteers need to have parenting experience. Qualifications aren’t necessary, volunteers just need to have good listening skills, understanding, discretion and commitment to the families they visit. Home-Start tries its best to match volunteers to the right families, so they’re always looking for people of all ages, backgrounds and gender.

Joanne continues: “Our 40 volunteers help around 60 families every year. The fact we’ve been running for 24 years shows there’s always a steady demand for our services. We do have a waiting list, but that’s primarily because we like to wait so we can match the right volunteer to the right family.”

Home Start offers a free service to families living in north east Fife. Around 70% of its income comes from the local authority while the rest comes from fundraising from other sources. Home-Start is an international organisation with over 300 schemes worldwide, however each Home-Start scheme is run independently with its own trustees and charitable status.

Prince William and Catherine Middleton have selected The Berkshire Community Fund as one of the charities to benefit from their Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund, which they created to help celebrate their wedding.

For further information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Help and Care at Home

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:00:54 +0000

ACT

ACT is the UK wide charity working to achieve the best possible quality of life and care for every child and young person who is not expected to reach adulthood

Case study: Jamie Gill

Jamie is a young man who has a wicked sense of humour, a terrible taste in music and a love of blonds and eating out! He is also not supposed to be here any longer.

He was diagnosed with a rare, degenerative, metabolic disorder when he was three and was not expected by anyone, least of all us, to have survived much beyond the age of 12. He is becoming slowly and increasingly less well, he has learning difficulties, uses a wheel chair, has diabetes, epilepsy, osteoporosis...... indeed a very long list of conditions and difficulties but he has managed so far to beat all the odds and defy expectations and is now a young man of 19 living with his peers in a residential unit for young people.

Ours has been a very long and challenging journey that has been, we are told, the typical roller-coaster ride faced by families with children diagnosed with degenerative conditions. For professionals in the field this is a relatively common experience; but for the families it is always without doubt a frightening journey into the unknown; a process where your child and your own lives become swallowed up by their illness. Life can be very challenging and scary. I was often desperate to have answers to my questions and really appreciated honest responses from health professionals. But finding clear and relevant information hasn’t been easy, but I have always found the help offered by the charity ACT to be particularly valuable. . ACT’s website and publications gave me straightforward support and advice that were easily accessible. Reading this information helped me to understand that I did have a choice in how my son is cared for, and helped me realise what else needed to be in place to support us as a family.

I know now of course, just how many wonderful people there out there to help and support us all along the way, but in the early stages after such a diagnosis most families have absolutely no idea where to turn. We feel totally alone and don’t know anyone else who is facing the same feelings and fears and are utterly dependant on the professionals involved in our child’s care.

We were very lucky, Jamie was blissfully happy at his Special School, and we were fully supported by all those in ‘the system’ from a very early stage. We have had support from community nursing teams and from the local children hospice. For Jamie, a happy, sunny and very sociable child, life has been full given all of his limitations. For us a family though it’s meant our whole world being turned upside down and has impacted on every aspect of family life.

There are too few words and too many clichés to describe what’s its like to be watching your child grow up in the knowledge that they are going to die, but I do know that had I received more of the kind of information and support that ACT provides for families I would have been better prepared to face this journey.

ACT has also made it easier for me and all the other families like ours to talk freely about having a life-limited child. They have broken the taboo, raised awareness of what children and their families need and put children’s palliative care on the map. Twenty years ago people thought that children’s palliative care was just about end of life and dying – it’s taken years of tough campaigning for people to begin to understand that palliative care for children is not like that. It’s about enabling babies, children and young people to have the best possible life – no matter how short it is.

For further information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website.

Trumpeters from the Central Band of the RAF will accolade Prince William and Catherine Middleton on 29th April

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:00:41 +0000

Trumpeters from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force (RAF) will accolade Prince William and Catherine Middleton once they have signed the register making them husband and wife.

A practice session was held at RAF Northolt in Middlesex.

Wing Commander Duncan Stubbs, who will be directing the band of seven trumpeters and one drummer, composed a new fanfare for the day.

The piece, which will not be heard until the wedding, is called Valiant and Brave and will last for about 30 seconds.

The title is the same as the motto used by RAF 22 Squadron of which Prince William is serving as a search and rescue pilot in North Wales.

Photos ©SAC Andy Holmes.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Help and Care at Home

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:00:33 +0000

The Berkshire Community Fund

Since 1985, the Berkshire Community Foundation (BCF) has been building a Community Capital Fund to provide grants to small voluntary groups that tackle need at the grassroots of our local community, both now and in the future.

Case study: ME2 Club

The Me2 Club offers a lifeline to children and young people with disabilities and their carers. The club provides each child with a specially trained volunteer to help them attend local clubs and access activities that give them the chance to make friends, develop their confidence, learn new skills, gain some independence from their family (often for the first time) and most importantly, have fun.

This support helps to provide their families with a much needed period of respite. Without the volunteers a parent or sibling has to accompany the child if they want to attend any kind of activity – putting additional pressure on the family. Providing a volunteer who is able to offer one-to-one support gives parents regular respite each week; an opportunity to spend time with other family members, go shopping or simply have a cup of tea in peace and quiet!

The Project:

Funding was awarded to train the young volunteers. This included disability awareness, communication skills, managing behaviour, adapting activities and child protection. This ensures that they are fully prepared for the role and confident in their volunteering. It also gives the Me2 Club the opportunity to get to know them, their personalities and interests so that they can match them up with a child they will get along with and have the skills to support.

The Results:

This grant was immensely important to the charity; without volunteers they are simply unable to run. During the year in which the grant was given, the Club were able to train and support an additional 38 volunteers. The grant also enabled the Club to offer development training to volunteers which included communication training delivered by a Speech and Language Therapist, Epilepsy Training run by the NHS, Moving and Handling training delivered by a trainer from Bracknell and Wokingham College, and First Aid at Work training organised through a qualified external provider.

“Receiving funding from the BCF to support such a core part of our work enabled us to approach other organisations for funding and helps contribute to the overall stability and ongoing sustainability of the charity. We are incredibly grateful for this support and the work it has enabled us to do.”

For further information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Help and Care at Home

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:00:01 +0000

Youth Access

Youth Access is the largest provider of young people's advice and counselling services in the UK.

Case Study: Croydon Drop in Support for young people

Croydon Drop In Support for young people offers a range of services for young people aged 11 to 25 including: an Outreach Team which delivers health education sessions in schools and various other sessions through the TALKBUS mobile unit; an Advice and Advocacy Service, and a Counselling Service which encompasses a specific project to work in schools and group-based post-counselling support (the Youth Participation Group) which is facilitated by a Therapeutic Participation Worker.

The counselling service is open at different times throughout the week offering drop-in sessions alongside booked appointments. Managed and supported by the counselling manager, a team of up to 18 counsellors offer counselling throughout the week, including Saturday mornings. Referrals come from a wide range of sources including self-referrals, GPs, CAMHS, schools, Connexions and the Youth Service.

At the drop-in sessions, young people can refer themselves for a counselling assessment (recent demand for the service means there is generally a waiting time of 4-6 weeks for first counselling sessions) or can be signposted to other parts of the service, for example, the advocacy service or to other local services. For those in crisis, emergency counselling can be offered by the duty worker. Problems with debt, benefits and housing place considerable demands on the advice, advocacy and information services offered.

A variety of counselling approaches are offered by the service; person-centred approaches are the most common and much of the support is short-term. The emphasis, however, is on responding flexibly and at a number of different levels, depending on the needs of the particular young person. Most of the counsellors are recruited from a range of local colleges, with the minimum requirement for applicants being that they are on the second year of a recognised diploma course in counselling. All volunteer counsellors receive regular group supervision from external supervisors plus individual support from the counselling manager.

Since 2005, the local CAMHS has been a key funder of the counselling service. A recent development has been the allocation of funds to cover 20 hours per week of counselling for the fast-tracking of referrals from CAMHS. In addition, Croydon Drop in works closely with and receives some funding from the Youth Service (largely for outreach activities) and there is an emphasis on partnership working with other local services from the voluntary and statutory sectors.

In the year 2005-2006, the counselling service saw 148 young people and offered 903 appointments. Of these 148 young people, 85 were under 19 and 36.5% were from Black and minority ethnic communities. This number is noted to be a substantial increase on the previous year and reflects the additional counselling hours funded by CAMHS. The most frequent areas of concern were depression; self-esteem; family and relationships and bereavement.

The service has put considerable effort into the development of its database and also its own forms for evaluating the counselling provision. Gathering feedback from young people is an integral part of this process. Plans for the future development of the service include extending the Talkbus part of the Outreach Service to reach young people often seen as ‘hard-to reach’ and through the Youth Participation Group, to run peer workshops for young people. The service is also keen to continue to increase the involvement of young people in the development and management of its provision.

Service strengths:

At the initial assessment, young people are offered the choice of seeing a male or female counsellor, and as much as possible, the service works to meet any requests to see a counsellor from a certain ethnic group.
Highly rated by its users, as illustrated by the following from the service’s most recent annual report,

“I thought I would never be able to get out of my boring mundane life, but I have and that’s all down to my counsellor who helped me to believe in myself” (Young person)

For further information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Help and Care at Home

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Community Foundation Wales

The Community Foundation in Wales promotes the cause of philanthropy in Wales by creating and managing relationships between donors and those who are running life-enhancing initiatives. We are dedicated to strengthening local communities by providing a permanent source of funding, building endowment and 'immediate impact' funds to link donors to local needs.

Case study: Action for Children/NCH Conwy

Action for Children/NCH Conwy Young Carers provides a support service for young carers across North Wales. The charity works directly with young carers, providing support groups that meet regularly to allow the carers to have fun and respite with their peers, away from their home situations. Issue-based sessions such as self-esteem, growing up, sex and relationships are incorporated into the group meetings. Trips and activities are also organised during school holidays for the carers and their families, as well as one-to-one support. The charity also raises awareness of the rights of young carers to ensure their needs are best met, for example, by education bodies and social services.

A recent grant of £7,457 was awarded by a private Fund at the Community Foundation in Wales, complemented by a further £2,540 from another client’s grant programme. These funded a residential break for 40 young carers aged 9 -13 from across North Wales to take the Sports Leaders UK ‘Young Leader Award’, delivered by STARS at Howell’s School, Denbigh.

As a result of attending this course in the school holidays, the beneficiaries have gained leadership skills and qualifications to enable them to volunteer to work with other children, for example at after-school clubs and camps. Activities on the course involved elements of team work, helping the participants to overcome some of the isolation that carers often face as well as raising confidence and building a sense of achievement. The children particularly enjoyed the camaraderie, and the chance to meet carers from other areas who have shared experiences.

For further information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website.

Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton visit Darwen, Lancashire

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:00:23 +0000

Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton visited Darwen, Lancashire on Monday 11th April 2011.

During the visit, The Prince and Miss Middleton visited the Darwen Aldridge Community Academy to mark it officially open, as well as Witton Country Park, to highlight the importance of outdoor recreational space.

The wedding of HRH Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton: Summary of information released so far

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 08:00:19 +0000

St. James's Palace has issued a summary of information released so far, regarding the wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton.

View the document here.

Prince William and Catherine Middleton visit Darwen in Lancashire

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:00:20 +0000

Prince William and Catherine carried out a final engagement before their wedding later this month, spending the day in Darwen, Lancashire visiting youth projects.

They arrived to officially open Darwen Aldridge Community Academy and were greeted by well-wishers despite the heavy rain.

They toured the Academy, which is a non-fee-paying school focusing on teaching young people entrepreneurial skills.

The couple visited pupils in their classes in design and technology, physical education and dance and music and were treated to a lively performance of group dance.

In a speech at the academy, The Prince thanked his hosts for a "warm Lancastrian welcome" and made fun of the weather, saying "if not a little damp".

He also launched the SkillForce Prince's Award, in recognition of the contribution that young people make to their communities.

He said: "I know that I am very fortunate. I have the support of my family and friends, I do a job I enjoy... and I have Catherine.

"But I have learnt through working with some truly inspiring charities - none more so than SkillForce - that these things can never be taken for granted.

"SkillForce is an extraordinary charity. It mentors and educates young people who are facing some of the toughest challenges that life can bring.

"It unlocks their potential, teaching them to find and use their own talents to help themselves to better their own lives. This charity has transformed the future for so many.

"That is why I am delighted to be launching the SkillForce Prince's Award. This will recognise outstanding achievement by remarkable young men and women who make an exceptional contribution to their communities.

"SkillForce captures for me so much of what I admire about my grandfather's Duke of Edinburgh Awards and my father's Prince's Trust, which have both (given) me an inspiring and slightly daunting example to follow."

The Prince has developed the Award with SkillForce, of which he is Patron.

CEO of SkillForce Peter Cross explains: "Giving 24 hours of their time young people will be challenged to work together for the benefit of a charity or community close to their hearts. They might raise funds for a local children's hospice, support local music and arts projects or renovate a community building."

Prince William also praised the "wonderful, innovative, ground-breaking" academy.

"I am convinced the academy will transform the lives of families in Darwen and, through its example, countless others elsewhere," he said.

Afterwards Prince William and Catherine Middleton arrived at the sports pavilion in Witton Country Park.

Miss Middleton started a 100-metre race for young female athletes by dropping a flag and presented a medal to the winner.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Conserving Heritage for Future Generations

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 08:00:52 +0000

Zoological Society of London

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats.

Case Study: The Sundarbans Tiger Project

What would you do if a wild tiger was lurking in your back garden? It is astonishing to think that this is an everyday reality for the poor families living in the villages bordering the Sundarban mangrove forest that spans Bangladesh and India.

When large predatory cats and humans clash, the results are violent and usually fatal. Lives on both sides are lost. Exploding human populations and ever-shrinking forests means the pressure is rising. Something’s got to give, and tiger numbers across the world are in freefall. With so few of these big cats left, finding other solutions to this human-tiger conflict has become one of the most urgent issues facing tiger conservation today.

Bangladesh experiences the most intense form of human-carnivore conflict in the world; around one person a week is killed by a tiger and upwards of three tigers are killed per year, and those are only the ones we hear about. With 300-500 tigers, Bangladesh has one of the largest remaining tiger populations in the world, but conflict is chipping away at this number. The loss of human life also leads to unnecessary human misery, increased economic hardship for already desperately poor local people, and negative attitudes towards tigers. If a tiger strays into a village, it is usually surrounded by thousands and beaten to death.

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is part of the Sundarbans Tiger Project, a joint initiative with the Bangladesh government and the Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh. The project started its conflict mitigation work in 2004 with the aim of reducing this century old problem, finally making change possible. To mitigate conflict situations, the project is building and training local community teams how to respond to tiger encounters. The teams are comprised of local villagers who have stepped forwards as volunteers to provide this service to their community. A total of 29 Village Tiger Response Teams (VTRT) made up of over 200 brave volunteers have been formed along the forest-village interface. Their main task is to control the mob that forms when a tiger strays into a village, until our specialist team arrives to rescue the tiger by anaesthetizing and moving it back to the forest.

Prince William and Catherine Middleton have selected ZSL as one of the charities to benefit from their Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund, which they created to help celebrate their wedding.

For further information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website.

The Royal Parks: Excitement builds for the Royal Wedding

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 08:01:51 +0000

The Royal Parks feature along the wedding procession route.

In this video, visitors to The Green Park and St. James's Park talk about their excitement in the run up to the Royal Wedding.

Royal Wedding live screening sites in London

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 08:00:04 +0000

The Royal Wedding will be broadcast live on giant screens at two central London locations, where Londoners and visitors alike will be able to join in the celebrations.

Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square will be the venues for free live screenings of Prince William and Catherine Middleton's wedding. They are being jointly organised by the Department of Media, Culture & Sport, the Mayor of London, and The Royal Parks.

Further information is available at www.london.gov.uk/royalwedding.

The Royal Collection launches 'Royal App' of weddings past

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:00:12 +0000

The Royal Collection has launched an official “Royal App” detailing previous Royal weddings.

The Royal Weddings app tells the story of seven Royal weddings, from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840, to TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall in 2005. It will be available to download for Apple and Android from 18 April 2011.

For more information, and to view the full press release, visit www.royalcollection.org.uk

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Changing lives through Arts and Sport

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:00:55 +0000

Greenhouse

Greenhouse empowers young people in London’s disadvantaged communities to realise their potential through high-quality, intensive sport and dance programmes delivered by inspirational coaches

Case Study - Shafik, Bethwin Football Club

Shafik is a seventeen-year-old Greenhouse participant from Peckham, South East London. He joined Greenhouse’s Bethwin Football club when he was 12-years-old and is now holding an offer to attend Birmingham University to study History.

“Attending Bethwin has really helped me in my life. It has given me the attitude I need to succeed, both in my education and in football”, says Shafik.

Greenhouse Bethwin Football Club is based in Peckham, sitting between the Aylesbury and North Peckham housing estates. There are 26 teams, with 520 players, ranging from the under 8s all the way through to an adult team.

There are no trials, and players are selected for the team based on their commitment, displayed through their attendance, punctuality, attitude and effort. Anyone can play, regardless of their ability.

“The ethos that Greenhouse Bethwin has instilled in me has made a big difference” says Shafik. “It has helped me both in school and at college, but has also helped me to play football at a high level”.

Ben, Greenhouse Bethwin FC’s programme manager, adds “Shafik’s time with us has given him a real head-start. He has found it a lot easier than other young people to adapt to college because he really understands the importance and the rewards of application and dedication.”

Shafik is studying economics, sociology and history at A-level, and plays football at a semi-professional level. However, he is most proud of the work he is doing with one of Greenhouse Bethwin’s under-8s teams, where he works with them as an assistant coach. “The team has improved dramatically this season and as a coach that puts a big, big smile on your face. They go into every match now thinking they’re going to win. It makes me happy when you see the smiles on their faces as well.”

But Shafiq understands that there is more to Greenhouse Bethwin than football. “I am hoping to help them develop good social skills and instill the Greenhouse Bethwin FC ethos in them early on. I want them to begin valuing punctuality and good attendance, not just in relation to coaching sessions but to their lessons as well. It’s about encouraging the young people to give 110 per cent in whatever they do.”

Prince William and Catherine Middleton have selected KeyFund as one of the charities to benefit from their Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund, which they created to help celebrate their wedding.

For further information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Changing lives through Arts and Sport

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:00:39 +0000

Oily Cart

Since 1981 Oily Cart has been taking its unique blend of theatre to children and young people in schools and venues across the UK. Challenging accepted definitions of theatre and audience, it creates innovative, multi-sensory and highly interactive productions for the very young and for young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Case Study – “Something in the Air”

Something in the Air is a Production by Oily Cart, for young people with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities and/or an Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Oily Cart creates ‘All sorts of shows, for all sorts of kids’, defying conventional forms of theatre in order to communicate with non-traditional, often non-verbal audiences. The impact of the work is witnessed through the young people’s responses and the feedback provided by those close to them.

Something in the Air was a collaboration between Oily Cart and aerial theatre company Ockham's Razor, commissioned by Manchester International Festival in 2009. For each show an audience of six young people and six carers were seated in specially created 'nest' chairs and raised into the air to fly in safety and comfort with the performers.

Oily Cart ran residencies at three Manchester Special Schools in the run up to the public performances of Something in the Air at the Contact Theatre in Manchester in July 2009. The show then toured to Newbridge School Oldham, Trinity School Dagenham, The Unicorn Theatre London, and Galeri in Wales during April and May 2010.

Something in the Air was created for children who have traditionally been considered ‘hard to communicate with’. A teacher in one of the schools commented that it was good that the production was aimed at ‘our hardest to reach children’ as it was unusual for them to be seen as the ‘target’ group. Although the children were fully involved in the life of the school, she felt that often the experiences they were offered by visitors from outside were not always aimed at them. A parent who attended a public performance with her daughter also said that she felt she had spent her daughter’s life campaigning for her in education, and that it was moving and surprising for her to come to an event where people valued and celebrated her disabled daughter.

Oily Cart is unique in creating original work for these specialist audiences and will continue to tour productions each year to Special Schools and venues across the UK.

Prince William and Catherine Middleton have selected KeyFund as one of the charities to benefit from their Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund, which they created to help celebrate their wedding.

For further information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Changing lives through Arts and Sport

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:00:27 +0000

Dance United

Dance United works with those who are marginalised in society and whose potential is often unrecognised or unfulfilled. Contemporary dance training and performance of the highest quality has the power to unlock this potential. Dance United delivers work that is tough, tightly-focused and highly disciplined. It reaches the hard-to-reach.

Case study - Tania’s Story

Tania was referred to Dance United’s Academy by the Head Teacher of her school after it was decided to exclude her for extremely aggressive behaviour. Coming from a well-known estate in Hackney with numerous gang problems, it was judged that Tania’s exclusion could put her at considerable risk of offending and that it would be advisable for her to be engaged in a programme where she could be supervised and kept busy.

She arrived at the Academy completely uninterested in everything. She was rude, unresponsive, intimidating, aggressive, non-communicative - she didn't give eye contact and never smiled. She made up excuses to gain attention and sit out. She featured regularly on the disciplinary register due to the disrespect she showed staff, her rudeness, and her refusal to follow instructions or adhere to the code of conduct. She was also involved in some bullying incidents. Eventually she was put on a behaviour contract - the final warning before being asked to leave the project.

Gradually, a different side of Tania began to surface. Little by little, she lowered her defences and started to genuinely care about the project and people involved; she spoke articulately on the last day about how she now understood why she had been excluded from school so she could come to Dance United, and how it had now come full circle and her experience with Dance United was enabling her to go back to school.

Tania is currently being reintegrated back into school and the Head Teacher is astonished by the positive transformation in her attitude and behaviour.

Prince William and Catherine Middleton have selected KeyFund as one of the charities to benefit from their Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund, which they created to help celebrate their wedding.

For further information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website.

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment prepares for the Royal Wedding

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:30:36 +0000

Following the announcement by the Ministry of Defence on 1st April 2011, The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment has been confirmed to provide the Sovereign's Escort and Captain's Escort for the wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton on 29th April 2011.

The Life Guards and Blues & Royals of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment will form a Sovereign’s Escort for Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, and a Captain’s Escort for the Bride and Groom, as the wedding party travel to Buckingham Palace from Westminster Abbey. This will involve almost 200 horses and soldiers on the day to escort and protect their carriages.

Lt Col. Dan Hughes said: “We are honoured to have such a pivotal role in the Royal Wedding, especially considering we have former colleagues of Prince William serving with us today. Prince William’s former Squadron, D Squadron HCR will be wishing the Royal couple good luck from Helmand Province, Afghanistan where they are currently deployed. Among the soldiers riding on the parade, many are recent veterans of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the younger members will be due to serve on Operations in 2013.”

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment based in Knightsbridge, is already conducting intensive rehearsals to prepare for the big day, and can be seen in Hyde Park every morning, practising their complex manoeuvres, riding on their ‘Cavalry Blacks’. Preparations have already been arduous for the Royal Wedding, and will continue to be for the next 24 days.

“At the moment we practise our drills pretty much every day, points that will be pertinent to this important event. Control of your horse, riding straight and dressed-off with your neighbour, precise and yet elegant sword drill, ‘carrying’ your plume, projecting your words of command...there is so much that goes into such a spectacle,” said Capt. James Hulme.

There is a lot of work that goes into equipment preparation at The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. A pair of the infamous jackboots can take up to eight hours of polishing for such an important parade. Helmets and the metal breastplate ‘cuirasses’, swords, plumes and horse tack all require a considerable amount of care and attention from the soldiers. The horses also get doted on, getting clipped, shaved, pedicured and given the occasional treat of apples, sugar cubes or mints. All this effort is even more incredible considering that 95% of the soldiers had never ridden before serving with the State Ceremonial half of the Regiment.

Follow the preparations of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in the run up to the Royal Wedding on their Facebook page and blog at facebook.com/hcmr

Major General William Cubitt OBE speaks about military involvement in the upcoming wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 08:00:46 +0000

A statement by the Major General Commanding the Household Division, Major General William Cubitt OBE, who will be responsible for all military ceremonial involvement on 29th April:

"It is a great honour for personnel of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force to be on parade for the wedding of HRH Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton.

"The military presence will be led by the Household Division and will include Sovereign’s and Captain’s Escorts of the Household Cavalry; a Welsh Guards Guard of Honour at Buckingham Palace; Street Liners from the Royal Navy, Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Welsh Guards, The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment and Royal Air Force; and military support in Westminster Abbey. Members of The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and the State Bands will also be on duty. The Queen’s Guard will be found that day from 1st Battalion Irish Guards, which will be in the process of returning from Afghanistan, commanded by its Commanding Officer.

"The military presence is highly appropriate for such a major Royal occasion and is given added relevance by Prince William’s own military position as Commodore-in-Chief of Submarines, Colonel of the Irish Guards, Royal Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Coningsby, Patron of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and as a serving officer of the Blues and Royals and of the Royal Air Force.

"All troops look forward eagerly to their chance to be on parade on this special day and wish Prince William and Catherine every good fortune for their future together."

The London Chamber Orchestra prepares for the Royal Wedding

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 08:00:18 +0000

The London Chamber Orchestra has been selected to perform alongside two choirs and two fanfare teams at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall is Patron.

Visit the London Chamber Orchestra website to find out more.

Archive footage from British Pathe - the wedding of HRH Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles at Westminster Abbey

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 08:00:18 +0000

In this series of blog entries, view a selection of archived films of Royal Weddings past, provided by British Pathe. This footage shows the wedding of HRH Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles at Westminster Abbey.

View the entire British Pathe Royal Wedding Film Collection

The role of the Armed Forces in the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 08:00:25 +0000

The Ministry of Defence is pleased to confirm the details and range of ceremonial Military Personnel who will play a key role in the formal elements of the wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011.

General Sir David Richards, Chief of the Defence Staff, said: “I am delighted that so many members of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces have the opportunity to be part of The Royal Wedding. It is a huge honour for those servicemen and women taking part and one that they and their families will remember with great pride. They reflect the sentiments of the whole of the Armed Forces who share their pride in supporting this national celebration.

“For those in the Path Lining party it will be a particular and poignant honour as many will have served alongside Prince William, and I am sure they will take great delight in being among the first to see His Royal Highness alongside his new bride.”

The military elements involved are:

QUEEN’S GUARD:

The 1st Battalion Irish Guards will be providing the Queen’s Guard at Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and the Tower of London throughout the day. The Guard will turn out for the departure of the Royal Family from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey.

GUARD OF HONOUR:

A Guard of Honour comprising three officers and 101 other ranks from the Welsh Guards will be positioned in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace for the return of the members of the Royal Family.

STREET LINERS:

More than 1,000 military personnel and military musicians will line the route from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace. They will be made up of officers and other ranks from:

Royal Navy:

HMS Astute, HMS Campbeltown, HMS Chatham, HMS Cumberland, HMS Daring, HMS Dauntless, HMS Diamond, HMS Edinburgh, HMS Gloucester, HMS Illustrious, HMS Liverpool, HMS Monmouth, HMS Montrose, HMS Neptune, HMS Northumberland, HMS Vanguard, HMS York, Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, elements from Fleet Headquarters and Defence Equipment and Support, Bristol.

Army:

Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards, 7 Company Coldstream Guards, F Company Scots Guards, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.

Royal Air Force:

RAF Benson, RAF Boulmer, RAF Chicksands, RAF Coningsby, RAF Cosford, RAF Cottesmore, RAF Cranwell, RAF Digby, RAF Fylingdales, RAF Halton, RAF High Wycombe, RAF Honington, RAF Kinloss, RAF Leeming, RAF Lossiemouth, RAF Lyneham, RAF Marham, RAF Odiham, RAF personnel from Permanent Joint Headquarters Northwood, RAF Scampton, RAF Shawbury, RAF St Athan, RAF Swanwick, RAF Valley, RAF Waddington, RAF Wittering, Queen's Colour Squadron, Defence School of Languages Beaconsfield, Joint Service Unit Cheltenham, Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit Northallerton, MOD Hospital Unit Peterborough, MOD Abbeywood, RAF personnel from the Defence College of Policing and Guarding, Southwick Park.

BANDS AND MUSICIANS:

Royal Navy:

The Royal Marines Band, Collingwood, located at Parliament Square.

Army:

On the forecourt of Buckingham Palace - the Band of Welsh Guards.

Along the route - the Band of Grenadier Guards at Marlborough Road; the Band of Coldstream Guards at Duke of York Steps; the Band of Scots Guards and the Corps of Drums, The Welsh Guards at Horse Guards; and the Corps of Drums, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment by the Cenotaph.

Inside Westminster Abbey – Eight Household Cavalry State Trumpeters, drawn equally from the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals.

Royal Air Force:

Along the route – The Central Band of the RAF, located at Horse Guards Avenue/Whitehall.

Inside Westminster Abbey – Eight RAF Fanfare Trumpeters.

PATH LINING OUTSIDE WESTMINSTER ABBEY AFTER SERVICE:

Personnel from each of the three Services will form a Path Lining party for when the couple leave Westminster Abbey. They are being chosen from a combination of those with a personal connection to Prince William, and those who have given an outstanding contribution to their Service.

SOVEREIGN’S ESCORT AND CAPTAIN’S ESCORT

The Life Guards and Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment will form a Sovereign’s Escort for Her Majesty The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, and a Captain’s Escort for the Bride and Groom, as the wedding party travels to Buckingham Palace from Westminster Abbey. This will involve some 160 horses.

FLYPAST:

At 1330 a flypast will take place over Buckingham Palace. This will consist of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight‘s Lancaster, a Spitfire and a Hurricane; followed 30 seconds later by two Typhoons and two Tornado GR4s in box formation.

Military involved on the day will wear their respective Service ceremonial clothing.

Other members of the Armed Forces have received invitations to attend the wedding service in a private capacity.

Archive footage from the British Film Institute - the wedding of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:00:46 +0000

Silent newsreel footage of the wedding day of Prince William's Great-Grandparents The Duke of York (later King George VI) and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) as they travel to and from Westminster Abbey for the ceremony. Provided by the British Film Institute.

The Master of the Household's Department prepares for the Royal Wedding

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:00:17 +0000

Staff at Buckingham Palace talk about Royal Household hospitality and catering in advance of the Royal Wedding.

Archive footage from the British Film Institute - The Queen Mother's wedding cake

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:00:16 +0000

Silent footage of members of the public queuing to see The Duchess of York's (later Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother) wedding cake ahead of her 1923 wedding to The Duke of York (later King George VI). Provided by the British Film Institute.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Children Fulfilling Their Potential

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:18:49 +0000

BeatBullying

Beatbullying is the UK's leading bullying prevention charity, creating a world where bullying, violence and harassment are unacceptable. Beatbullying empowers people to understand, recognise, and say no to bullying, violence and harassment by giving them the tools to transform their lives and the lives of their peers. Working with families, schools, and communities to understand the problem, campaign for change and provide a sustainable efficient and proven solution.

Case study - Horbury School and Beatbullying CyberMentors

CyberMentors is a unique initiative from Beatbullying designed to tackle bullying and negative behaviour in schools and communities. Young people are trained to have the skills and experience to mentor and support their peers, both offline in their school or community, as well as online via a safe social networking site, cybermentors.org.uk – the world’s first online peer mentoring service for children and young people who are being bullied.

Since its launch in 2009, CyberMentors has been established in over 200 schools and colleges.

Twenty-five pupils from Horbury School in Wakefield were trained as CyberMentors in 2009. They received two days intensive training, delivered by Beatbullying’s team of experts, to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to mentor other young people, both offline and online. Since then, the programme has been fully embedded into the school, and it continues to go from strength to strength, providing all pupils with a network of offline and online support. Any pupil in the school who needs support, whether they are being bullied or they have another issue affecting their wellbeing, is able to seek help from someone their own age – either face to face at a scheduled time during the day, or online if they’d prefer.

The Horbury CyberMentors say that their confidence has increased, they know and understand more about the issue of bullying, and they know how they can report it and deal with it effectively. A teacher at the school said: “Children are very happy participating in the programme. They are confident and keen to make positive contributions.”

However, not only has the programme benefitted those pupils who were trained as CyberMentors, the actions of the trained CyberMentors demonstrate the profound and extremely positive impact that the programme can have on an entire school. Online and offline, the Horbury CyberMentors have been able to provide support and advice for pupils who are being bullied, or who are worried about something and want to talk to someone who is not a teacher or their parents.

However, it is also a preventative programme; it helps to change the environment within a school, as students increasingly say “no” to bullying and take a stand against it. According to the Deputy Head teacher, CyberMentors has been an overwhelming success and has significantly reduced instances of bullying in the school. Elsewhere, CyberMentors is shown to reduce the number of exclusions, truancies and violent incidents in schools.

The CyberMentors at Horbury work hard to make sure as many people as possible can access the support that CyberMentors provides. They’ve spoken at conferences and in local schools about the programme and the impact it has had on their own school. They’ve created their own Facebook page and Twitter presence, where they keep everyone up to date with information and news about bullying and their work as CyberMentors, and they have won several national UK awards in recognition of their hard work and commitment to tackling bullying.

Prince William and Catherine Middleton have selected IntoUniversity as one of the charities to benefit from their Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund, which they created to help celebrate their wedding.

For further information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Children fulfilling their potential

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:02:12 +0000

IntoUniversity

IntoUniversity provides local learning centres where young people are inspired to achieve. At each local centre IntoUniversity offers an innovative programme that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to attain either a university place or another chosen aspiration.

Case Study - IntoUniversity Haringey North

In November 2009 IntoUniversity opened its 5th centre in White Hart Lane, Haringey North. Over 1,000 young people in the area have already participated in the programme.

Haringey North has pockets of deprivation amongst the worst 10% in the whole of England.

Rebecca and Michael are two IntoUniversity Haringey North students.

Rebecca is in Year 9. No one from her family has ever attended university.

“I have been coming to Academic Support since the centre opened last autumn. I was told about it by my school. It is a quieter environment than at home and there are more books and resources. In the summer I also did the Careers in FOCUS programme and learnt about different jobs that I could do. I went to some amazing workshops run by professionals including a lawyer, sports manager and graphic designer. I am very sporty so I also got help researching sports careers and decided that I would like to become a physiotherapist.

“I love meeting new people at IntoUniversity and I have got much better at working with others as well as working independently. If I didn’t come to IntoUniversity I would just do nothing after I finish my homework, but here I get extra work to keep me occupied. As a reward for coming to Academic Support I have recently been paired with my mentor Naomi, which is really exciting. I really look forward to my fortnightly meetings with her.

“My mentoring experience so far has been really useful and enjoyable. It has helped me think about my future.”

Michael Joel is also in Year 9. He has attended secondary academic support since the centre opened.

“I started to come to IntoUniversity when the centre first opened in Haringey. I was lucky enough to be able to deliver a presentation to David Lammy (MP) at the grand opening! Lots of members of Haringey Council spoke about the advantages and usefulness of having a learning centre in the Borough. I have really benefitted from attending Secondary Academic Support because the support I have received has helped me to improve my grades from C’s to A and A* in Science and Maths. I am really happy about this improvement. I like coming to Academic Support because I have made some great friends who go to other Secondary Schools in the area. I also like the learning environment at IntoUniversity and all the Tutors and Volunteers who help me, because they are really easy to talk to.”

For further information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Children Fulfilling Their Potential

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:00:45 +0000

IntoUniversity Haringey North

In November 2009 IntoUniversity opened its 5th centre in White Hart Lane, Haringey North. Over 1,000 young people in the area have already participated in the programme. Why run a centre in Haringey North?

Haringey North has pockets of deprivation amongst the worst 10% in the whole of England.

The White Hart Lane ward is an area of particular need where over half the population live in social housing and over a third left school with no academic qualifications of any level.

University participation is extremely low: with fewer than 16% of school leavers in White Hart Lane going to university, compared to 43% nationally.

Rebecca and Michael are two IntoUniversity Haringey North students.

Rebecca is in Year 9. Nobody from her family has ever attended university.

"I love meeting new people at IntoUniversity and I have got much better at working with others as well as working independently. If I didn’t come to IntoUniversity I would just do nothing after I finish my homework, but here I get extra work to keep me occupied. As a reward for coming to Academic Support I have recently been paired with my mentor Naomi, which is really exciting. I really look forward to my fortnightly meetings with her. So far we have done several activities together; we set a SMART target to help me to improve my knowledge of English Literature, and I had the opportunity to talk to my mentor about the route she took through education and her experiences at university. However, my favourite meeting so far has to be when we cooked a Greek stew which was interesting because my mentor has Greek routes and so do I! Naomi has helped me research about Physiotherapy and she has encouraged me to look at doing some related work experience. My mentoring experience so far has been really useful and enjoyable. It has helped me think about my future.”

Michael Joel is also in Year 9. He has attended secondary academic support since the centre opened.

For more information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund: Children fulfilling their potential

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:00:33 +0000

Keyfund

Keyfund is a charity which invests in ideas. Young people design and deliver their own projects, building confidence, self-esteem and 12 Keyfund skills. By building confidence, aspirations and pride, Keyfund opens doors. New experiences. New skills. New futures.

Case study - Mothers and Mates

Mothers and Mates: A truly life changing project where a group of young women found a way of making their dreams reality through the unusual outlet of poetry.

Young mothers Jodie, Sandie, Adele, Sarah, Amy and Laura, aged 15-16 formed the 'Mothers and Mates' group. The girls, from varying backgrounds came together through Northumberland Education Other Than At School (EOTAS). They got involved Keyfund because they were trying to find ways of dealing with the issues they were facing in life. These issues included coping with being a young mum, relationship challenges, anger management and mental health issues. They had discovered, with the help of their facilitators Alison and Karen, that poetry helped them to express themselves in a positive way and prevented them from lashing out as they previously had.

At Keyfund Stage One the girls put together a book of poetry and had it professionally published. The girls hoped that it would not only help them, but that other young people in similar situations could read it and know they were not alone.

The girls did an amazing job and sent Keyfund a professionally printed book called 'Open Your Mind' filled with expressive poetry.

Amy, Jodie and Adele progressed onto Keyfund Stage Two, using it as an opportunity to launch their book. They invited peers, teachers, friends and family along to help them celebrate their success and to start selling their books. Even when things got tricky they did not give up and held a successful event, with 40 guests attending and selling over 300 copies of their book.

The girls all made a huge amount of progress during their time using Keyfund. It was their confidence and self-awareness that blossomed most. In addition they all gained an Arts award.

The experience enabled the young women to turn their lives around, one of the group members explained: “I write poetry now, instead of self-harming”.

The Mothers and Mates group have gone from strength to strength with two of the young women progressing into higher education.

Amy, Jodie and Adele entered a poetry competition where they beat off tough competition to win the Regional Final for the North East. They then went on to compete in the National Final in Manchester, which was a great achievement. The group continue to write poetry and recently participated in an open mic night, reading their work aloud to a live audience.

Prince William and Catherine Middleton have selected KeyFund as one of the charities to benefit from their Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund, which they created to help celebrate their wedding.

For further information, visit the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund website.

Visiting Britain: Sites and attractions

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:30:54 +0000

Britain has a number of attractions on offer to visitors in the lead up to the Royal Wedding on 29th April.

Visit Britain has listed a variety of things to do and places to see around the UK, including World Heritage Sites such as Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, the Heart of Neolithic Orkney in Scotland and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

As well as visiting these sites, there are the various residences of Her Majesty The Queen around the UK, including Buckingham Palace, Sandringham House and Windsor Castle open to the public.

For more information on these and other attractions around the UK, take a look at the Visit Britain website.

Royal Mail announces commemorative stamps to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:00:08 +0000

Royal Mail has announced a special sheet of stamps to commemorate the forthcoming Royal Wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton.

The stamps will be available from all Post Office® branches from 21^st April 2011, Her Majesty The Queen’s birthday.

The stamps feature the official engagement portraits taken by photographer Mario Testino on 25^th November.

Further information can be found at www.royalmail.com/royalwedding

Gallery - The Royal Wedding Cakes

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:00:09 +0000

Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton have chosen Leicestershire-based cake designer Fiona Cairns to create their wedding cake.

In addition, the couple have also asked McVitie's Cake Company to create a chocolate biscuit cake for the reception at Buckingham Palace. The chocolate biscuit cake will be made from a Royal Family recipe and was specially requested by Prince William.

Archive footage from British Pathe - the wedding of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 09:00:27 +0000

In this series of blog entries, view a selection of archived films of Royal Weddings past, provided by British Pathe. This footage shows the wedding of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. View the entire British Pathe Royal Wedding Film Collection

Archive footage from British Pathe - the wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 08:00:59 +0000

In this series of blog entries, view a selection of archived films of Royal Weddings past, provided by British Pathe. This film shows the wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

View the entire British Pathe Royal Wedding Film Collection

Archive footage from British Pathe - the 900th anniversary of Westminster Abbey

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 08:00:57 +0000

In this series of blogs, a collection of archive footage from British Pathe. This film shows the 900th Anniversary of Westminster Abbey.

View the entire British Pathe Royal Wedding Film Collection

Prince William and Catherine Middleton to visit Lancashire

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 08:00:09 +0000

Prince William and Catherine Middleton will be carrying out engagements in Lancashire on Monday 11th April.

For more information, visit http://bit.ly/fAct8u

An interview with McVitie's: The Royal Wedding reception cake

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:00:01 +0000

Paul Courtney, Head Chef, Cake Design and Development at McVitie's, talks about the Royal Wedding reception cake, requested by Prince William.

An interview with Fiona Cairns - designer of the Royal Wedding cake

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 11:00:01 +0000

Cake designer Fiona Cairns has been chosen to make the cake for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Decorated using the Joseph Lambeth technique, the cake will be a traditional fruit cake of several tiers.

Royal Wedding cake designer is announced

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 01:00:29 +0000

Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton have chosen Leicestershire-based cake designer Fiona Cairns to create their wedding cake.

The wedding cake will be a multi-tiered traditional fruit cake. The cake, which will be decorated with cream and white icing, will have a strong British floral theme using elements of the Joseph Lambeth technique. Fiona was chosen for her creative style and beautifully crafted handmade cakes using traditional British ingredients. Her business, started 25 years ago on her kitchen table, is now based in a state of the art bakery in Leicestershire, the heart of the English countryside.

In addition, the couple have also asked McVitie's Cake Company to create a chocolate biscuit cake for the reception at Buckingham Palace. The chocolate biscuit cake will be made from a Royal Family recipe and was specially requested by Prince William.

Further information

Fiona Cairns Ltd began on Fiona's kitchen table 25 years ago, when Kishore Patel – Fiona's husband and now managing director of the company – spotted the potential of his wife's beautifully crafted handmade cakes. In 2001, Kishore joined the company full time and the business moved out of their garden and into a state of the art bakery in Leicestershire, the heart of the English countryside.

For more information visit www.fionacairns.com

McVitie's Cake Company now part of the United Biscuits Group have made many of the wedding and christening cakes for members of the Royal family since the marriage of His Majesty King George V to HM Queen Mary. They also made the official cake for The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's diamond wedding anniversary in 2007.

For more information visit www.unitedbiscuits.com

Joseph Lambeth technique

The Lambeth Method is derived from a style of decorating that was popular in England where chefs and decorators would use a lot of intricate piping to create 3-D scrollwork, leaves, flowers, and other decoration on a cake. The Lambeth Method is still popular today and is frequently used by wedding cake designers and decorators to create ornate wedding cakes. A cake decorated in the Lambeth Method and accented with fresh fruit or flowers is the wedding cake of choice for anyone who wants a traditional looking, elegant wedding cake.

Accreditation: Operational notes for reporters, photographers and television and radio coverage of the Royal Wedding

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 08:00:57 +0000

The Cabinet Office has issued operational notes for the accreditation of coverage of the Royal Wedding for reporters, photographers and television and radio reporters.

Each operational note can be found by following the links below:

Operational Note – Arrangements for reporter coverage of the Royal Wedding

Operational Note – Arrangements for television and radio reporter coverage of the Royal Wedding

Operational Note – Arrangements for photographic coverage of the Royal Wedding

Road closures on the day of the Royal Wedding

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 08:00:07 +0000

Road closures on the 29^th April 2011 are expected to begin at 6:00am and will be reopened gradually from approximately 2:00pm onwards.

A map of the road closures is available on the Metropolitan Police website and further information can be found on the FAQs page of this website.

The Royal Wedding music to be released digitally for the first time

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:17:15 +0000

For the first time in history, when Prince William marries Catherine Middleton next month, the Royal Wedding ceremony will be recorded and immediately released digitally by Decca Records.

The Official Album of the event, to be held in Westminster Abbey on 29th April, will then be released into British stores and across the rest of the world from 5th May. Musicians already confirmed to perform at the ceremony include The Choir of Westminster Abbey, The Chapel Royal Choir, The London Chamber Orchestra and The Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force. The Choirs will be under the direction of Mr James O'Donnell and The London Chamber Orchestra conducted by its Music Director and Principal Conductor Mr Christopher Warren-Green.

The physical album will include a special collector's booklet featuring the complete order of service, the readings, vows, hymns and blessings, and all the music from the event. The format of release will be digital download, CD, vinyl and even cassette to cater for all consumers.

The album will be produced by the well-known classical record producer, Anna Barry, who has produced over 500 recordings of distinction for over 25 years, ranging from works by Andrew Lloyd Webber to opera at the Mariinsky Theatre with Valery Gergiev, and many other legendary artists including José Carreras and Zubin Mehta.

Anna Barry said: "This is a great honour and an enormous responsibility. The wedding means so much to millions of people all over the world – we have to capture every note and every nuance perfectly and have the recording ready within minutes of the end of the ceremony."

Dickon Stainer, President of Decca Records said: "This will be the first Official Royal Wedding Album ever to enter the worldwide digital charts. It will capture a piece of history for a new generation".

David Joseph, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK, said, "The Official Album for The Royal Wedding will complement everyone's personal memories of the event. Thanks to digital technology we will be able to deliver it worldwide almost instantly – it will be the fastest we have ever released an album of this stature."

The 1902 State Landau carriage

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 08:00:55 +0000

The 1902 State Landau was specifically built for King Edward VII in 1902 and was intended to be used at his Coronation. It will carry the Bride and Bridegroom on their way back from the service at Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.

The Wedding Carriages

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 08:00:44 +0000

At the end of their wedding service at Westminster Abbey, Prince William and Miss Middleton will travel in the 1902 State Landau along the Processional Route to Buckingham Palace. In the event of severely wet weather, the couple will travel in The Glass Coach.

There will be five horse-drawn carriages in the Carriage Procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace. The first carriage will be the 1902 State Landau or Glass Coach carrying the Bride and the Bridegroom. The second and third carriages will be Ascot Landaus carrying the Best Man, Maid of Honour and Bridesmaids. The fourth carriage will be a Semi-State Landau carrying The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. The fifth carriage will be a Semi-State Landau carrying The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and Mr and Mrs Middleton.

The 1902 State Landau, the Glass Coach, the Ascot and Semi-State Landaus are housed at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace.

The 1902 State Landau was specifically built for King Edward VII in 1902 and was intended to be used at his Coronation. It is the carriage in most general use at the Royal Mews and is usually used by The Queen to meet Foreign Heads of State when they arrive on State Visits to Britain. The Prince of Wales travelled to St Paul’s Cathedral in the 1902 State Landau for his wedding in 1981, returning in it with The Princess of Wales after the service. The Duke and Duchess of York also used it for their return to Buckingham Palace at their wedding in 1986.

The Glass Coach was built in 1881 and was purchased for use at King George V’s Coronation in 1911. The Glass Coach has carried previous Royal brides to their weddings – Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, Princess Alexandra in 1963, Princess Anne in 1973, Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 and Miss Sarah Ferguson in 1986. It has also carried the bride and bridegroom from the church, as it did when Princess Elizabeth married The Duke of Edinburgh and again when Princess Anne married Captain Mark Phillips.

There are five Ascot Landaus in the Royal Mews. These carriages are always used for The Queen’s procession up the course at the Royal Ascot Race meeting and also for other visits of an official nature.

There are five Semi State Landaus in service. They have been used for The Queen’s coronation visit to Edinburgh, the Investiture of The Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle, The Queen’s silver Jubilee visits to Glasgow and Cardiff, and on State Visits following the 1902 State Landau. They are also used to transport new High Commissioners of Republics within the Commonwealth when they are received by The Queen.

Further information

Miss Middleton and Prince William will travel separately to the wedding service using State Cars from the Royal Mews. The State Car collection includes two Bentleys, three Rolls-Royces and three Daimlers.

The Processional route from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace runs from Westminster Abbey to Parliament Square and then on to Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade before The Mall to Buckingham Palace.

The Royal Mews is part of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office and is run by the Crown Equerry. The Royal Mews houses 30 carriage horses and has 38 staff including liveried helpers, coachmen, chauffeurs.

There are two breeds of horses at the Royal Mews, Windsor Greys and Bays (the majority of which are Cleveland Bays).

There are over 100 carriages in the collection, although not all of them are kept at Buckingham Palace.

For the Royal Wedding, 14 sides of State Harness will be used with matching appointments for outriders. All the harness requires regular cleaning and polishing which is undertaken by Royal Mews staff in addition to their other duties.

For more information about the Royal Mews please visit www.royal.gov.uk

Official Royal Wedding coin goes into production at the Royal Mint

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:56:31 +0000

The Royal Mint has unveiled the official UK coin commemorating the wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton.

The coin has gone into production at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, South Wales.

Approved by the Royal Household and the Government, the coin features relaxed, modern portraits of the couple, an approach also evident in the informal use of their names and the date of the wedding circulating their portraits. The obverse bears a portrait of Prince William's grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen.

The coin has been designed by Mark Richards, Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, following an invitation-only tender process involving a handful of British sculptors. His submission was selected by the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, a panel made up of experts in art, design, history and heraldry, chaired at the time of the decision by Sir Christopher Frayling, former Rector of the Royal College of Art.

Mark Richards said: "It's a tremendous honour and privilege to have been chosen to design the Royal Wedding coin. As a sculptor I'm used to working in 3D, so my specific challenges were not only capturing the nuances of Catherine Middleton and Prince William's features, but also faithfully rendering their expressions in such a small space. I was inspired by what I think is best summed up as the spirit of 'friendship in love'. It was important to me to capture the relaxed intimacy of a modern couple, without compromising the historical significance of the wedding itself."

Kevin Clancy, Director of the Royal Mint Museum said: "The Royal Mint has produced coins for the British Monarchy for over 1,000 years, and while this latest coin features the country's future King and Queen, it is actually a coin for the people who want to commemorate the Royal Wedding with their own piece of history."

The coin is also available to purchase in the precious metals silver, gold and platinum.

To find out more visit the Royal Mint website: www.royalmint.com

Royal Mint makes official coin for Royal Wedding

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 08:00:06 +0000

The Royal Mint has made an official coin to celebrate the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

The garden at Clarence House

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 08:00:02 +0000

The garden at Clarence House is in full bloom. Clarence House is the official residence of The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William and Prince Harry.

Clarence House is next to The Green Park and close to Buckingham Palace.

Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:00:19 +0000

Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton have set up a charitable gift fund for those who very generously may wish to donate to charity to help the couple celebrate their wedding.

Having been touched by the goodwill shown them since the announcement of their engagement, Prince William and Miss Middleton have asked that anyone who might wish to give them a wedding gift consider giving instead to a charitable fund.

Donations can be made through the website www.royalweddingcharityfund.org which includes a full list of the charities to benefit, personally chosen by Prince William and Miss Middleton.

Many of the charities are little known, without existing Royal Patronage, and undertake excellent work within specific communities. They are charities that have a particular resonance with Prince William and Miss Middleton and reflect issues in which the couple have been particularly interested in their lives to date.

The charities are grouped into particular areas, depending on the work they do, and individuals can donate to the group they particularly wish to support. The areas are: Changing Lives through Arts and Sport; Children Fulfilling Their Potential; Help and Care at Home; Support for Service Personnel and Their Families; and Conservation for Future Generations.

The charities include some based in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, to reflect the couple’s close ties to and affection for the three countries following visits by Prince William in the past.

Donations, via the website, are possible in six currencies. Donations can also be made by telephone, by text message or by sending a cheque. The donations will be held in a dedicated account by the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry and grants will be distributed in partnership with the benefitting charities to ensure maximum impact.

The website is hosted by BT, which is also providing the online, telephone and text services as well as the processing platform for charitable donations. The site was designed and built by GGMR. All major mobile operators have waived fees for processing donations.

Notes to editors

The full list of charities that will benefit from the fund is as follows:

Peace Players
Ocean Youth Trust
Greenhouse Schools
Oily Cart
Dance United
IntoUniversity
Venture Trust
Beat Bullying
Keyfund
A National Voice
Association for Children’s Palliative Care (ACT)
Youth Access
Community Foundation in Wales
Community Foundation in Scotland
Community Foundation in Berkshire
Combat Stress
Cruse Bereavement Care for Children of Forces’ Families
Household Cavalry Benevolent Fund
Irish Guards Appeal
Army Widows Association
Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund
ZSL
EarthWatch
The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary
New Zealand Government’s Christchurch Earthquake Appeal
Royal Flying Doctor Service – Australia

Musicians for the Wedding Service at Westminster Abbey

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:29:00 +0000

Two choirs, one orchestra and two fanfare teams will perform the music at the Wedding Service of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29th. These are:

•    The Choir of Westminster Abbey

•    The Chapel Royal Choir

•    The London Chamber Orchestra

•    The Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force

•    The State Trumpeters of The Household Cavalry

The choirs will be under the direction of Mr James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey. The Choir of Westminster Abbey is made up of 20 boys, all of whom attend the Abbey’s dedicated residential Choir School, and 12 professional adult singers, known as Lay Vicars. In addition to singing the daily choral services in the Abbey throughout the year, it plays a central role in the many royal, state and national occasions which take place at the Abbey. The Abbey’s Sub Organist, Robert Quinney, will play the organ.

The Chapel Royal Choir consists of ten Children of the Chapel, boy choristers who hold scholarships at City of London School, and six Gentlemen-in-Ordinary, who are professional singers. The Chapel Royal Choir has existed since at least the Norman Conquest. The Organist, Choir Master and Composer at Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal is Dr. Andrew Gant. The Choir’s duties are to sing the weekly service in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace and to perform for the Sovereign on other occasions, including at the weddings of members of the Royal Family. The distinctive State uniforms worn by the Children date from the reign of Charles II.

The London Chamber Orchestra will be conducted by Mr Christopher Warren-Green, its Music Director and Principal Conductor. The orchestra will comprise 39 musicians located in the organ loft of the Abbey. The LCO is the longest established professional chamber orchestra in the UK, having been founded in 1921 by Anthony Bernard. HRH The Duchess of Cornwall is a patron of the orchestra. Mr Warren-Green has conducted numerous concerts for the Royal Family.

A Fanfare Team of seven musicians from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force will perform under the direction of Wing Commander Duncan Stubbs. The Central Band was established in 1920 and provides musical support to the Royal Air Force throughout the UK. In addition to their musical duties, Royal Air Force musicians also serve overseas in support of the broader Defence cause.

The State Trumpeters of The Household Cavalry comprises musicians from both The Band of The Life Guards and The Band of The Blues and Royals. The Fanfare Team of eight Trumpeters will be led by Trumpet Major Grant Sewell-Jones of The Band of The Blues and Royals. In addition to their musical duties, all Army Musicians can be called upon to act as individual augmentee soldiers in support of operations across the world.

Both Prince William and Miss Middleton have taken a great deal of interest and care in choosing the music for their Service, which will include a number of well-known hymns and choral works as well as some specially-commissioned pieces.

Following the Wedding Service at Westminster Abbey, Claire Jones, the Official Harpist to HRH The Prince of Wales will perform at a Reception hosted by Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Further information on the music will be made available nearer the time of the wedding.

The Dean of Westminster Abbey gives an introduction to the Abbey

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 12:48:00 +0000

The Dean of Westminster Abbey, The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, talks about the history of Westminster Abbey and his role during the wedding service on April 29th this year.

Visit the Westminster Abbey website

Pictures of the Royal Wedding Procession route

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:00:18 +0000

View our pictures from the Royal Wedding procession route through London. The route takes in a number of well-known landmarks.

Prince William and Catherine Middleton visit Northern Ireland

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Prince William and Catherine Middleton have spent the day in Northern Ireland on an unannounced visit.

The visit follows on from their engagements at Anglesey in Wales and St. Andrews in Scotland.

In Belfast today Prince William and Catherine were greeted by well-wishers outside City Hall.

The Prince and Miss Middleton spontaneously celebrated Shrove Tuesday with the crowds by tossing a pancake or two with children who were taking part in the activity to raise money for the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund.

After taking part himself, Prince William passed the frying pan to Miss Middleton and urged her to try, which she did, to the delight of onlookers.

Later the couple met Lord Mayor Pat Convery, Dame Mary Peters, the Lord Lieutenant of Belfast, and Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson.

The Prince and Miss Middleton then held a private meeting with Mr Paterson at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down, followed by a lunch.

During the day, they also met young people from the Protestant and Catholic communities at Youth Action NI which provides training in areas including youth work and the performing arts.

They chatted with many of the students about their experiences and Prince William presented them with graduating certificates.

The Youth Action charity is a charitable organisation funded by groups including the International Fund for Ireland.

New interactive map of royal wedding procession route launched

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:14:18 +0000

The Royal Parks has launched an interactive map of the Royal Wedding procession route.

The procession will pass by some of London’s most well-known landmarks, including the Queen Victoria monument, The Mall, Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall, the Cenotaph and the Houses of Parliament, not to mention two of London’s best-loved royal parks, St. James’s Park and The Green Park.

The Royal Parks website also has information about planning your day.

View the interactive map of the wedding route on the Royal Parks website

A biography of Catherine Middleton

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:19:43 +0000

Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born to Michael and Carole Middleton at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, on 9th January 1982. Catherine is the eldest of three children.

Catherine was christened at the parish church of St Andrew’s Bradfield in Berkshire on 20th June 1982.

In May 1984, at the age of two, Catherine moved with her family to Amman in Jordan, where her father worked for two and a half years. Catherine attended a nursery school in Amman from the age of three.

In September 1986, the Middletons returned to their home in West Berkshire, and Catherine started at St Andrew’s School in Pangbourne, where she remained until July 1995. Catherine went on to Marlborough College in Wiltshire, where she studied Chemistry, Biology and Art at A-level. Catherine also took part in sport on behalf of the school, playing tennis, hockey and netball and participating in athletics, particularly high jump. Catherine completed her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award at Marlborough.

Leaving Marlborough College in July 2000, Catherine undertook a gap year in which she studied at the British Institute in Florence, undertook a Raleigh International programme in Chile, and crewed on Round the World Challenge boats in the Solent.

In 2001, Catherine enrolled at the University of St Andrews, Fife, from where she graduated in 2005 with a 2:1 in History of Art. Catherine continued with her interest in sport at University, playing hockey for the University team. Catherine first met Prince William when studying at the University.

Since completing her degree, Catherine has worked for Party Pieces, a company owned and run by her parents. Alongside her work for the family business, Catherine worked in London as a part-time buyer for the clothing company Jigsaw Junior.

In 2008, Catherine launched First Birthdays, a junior brand to Party Pieces. Her role within the family business included catalogue design and production, marketing and photography.

Catherine’s hobbies include recreational sports such as hill walking, tennis, swimming, sailing, and the arts such as photography and painting.

View the gallery

The picture above is of Catherine Middleton and Prince William on their graduation day at the University of St. Andrews. © The Middleton Family, 2011. All rights reserved.

Pictures may be downloaded from Flickr for appropriate news use only. For permissions regarding any other use, please contact the St James’s Palace Press Office in writing.

Catherine Middleton - Family Photographs

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:00:02 +0000

Pictures may be downloaded from Flickr for appropriate news use only. For permissions regarding any other use, please contact the St James’s Palace Press Office in writing.

Pictures of Westminster Abbey

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:00:36 +0000

View our pictures of Westminster Abbey and get a sense of this very special setting ahead of the wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton on 29th April.

Visit the Westminster Abbey website

Launch of Royal Wedding website

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 09:00:02 +0000

The official Royal Wedding website celebrating the marriage of Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton is launched today by St. James’s Palace.

The website, www.officialroyalwedding2011.org, is the official information service for anyone interested in the forthcoming Royal Wedding. Regular announcements of wedding details in the run up to the wedding day will appear on the site.

The website will be regularly updated with exclusive content, including photo galleries, features, videos and links to important information for visitors on the day.

The website will bring together all of the official social media around the event, including the Clarence House and Buckingham Palace Flickr account, Twitter (@Clarence House), The Royal Channel on YouTube and the British Monarchy Facebook page, providing direct easy access to all channels of communication. Subject to further planning work, the website may feature a live web stream broadcast of the wedding itself.

As well as regular updates on the wedding details ahead of the event, on the day itself the site will be the first place to view information such as the details of Miss Middleton’s wedding dress.

The website is hosted by Google App Engine, which is designed to handle large, global peaks in web traffic, and was built by Accenture. Design and creative advice was offered by Reading Room.

The website is launched on the same day as DirectGov’s specific Royal Wedding page www.direct.gov.uk/RoyalWedding, which contains practical information for members of the public, whether they’re planning to visit London to take part in the celebrations or organising their own event within the local community.

View virtual tours of Buckingham Palace

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 11:08:49 +0000

Buckingham Palace contains 775 rooms. Included in this are 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. In measurements, the building is 108 metres long across the front, 120 metres deep (including the central quadrangle) and 24 metres high.

Although a working building and the centrepiece of the British Monarchy, it is also the venue for great Royal ceremonies, State Visits and Investitures, and will be playing its part in the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton when it hosts the private reception and dinner hosted by The Prince of Wales after the ceremony.

Take a virtual tour through some of the rooms at Buckingham Palace below, and see what it is like inside:

The White Drawing Room

The Grand Staircase

Daffodils in The Green Park

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 08:00:36 +0000

Daffodils start to emerge in The Green Park, which sits along the processional route for the wedding.

The daffodils were planted to celebrate The Queen's and The Duke of Edinburgh's Golden Wedding in 1997.

Buckingham Palace - a history

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 08:00:04 +0000

George III bought Buckingham House in 1761 for his wife Queen Charlotte to use as a comfortable family home close to St James's Palace, where many court functions were held. Buckingham House became known as the Queen's House, and 14 of George III's 15 children were born there.

In 1762 work began on remodelling the house to the King's requirements, to designs by Sir William Chambers, at a cost of £73,000.

George IV, on his accession in 1820, decided to reconstruct the house into a pied-à-terre, using it for the same purpose as his father George III.

As work progressed, and as late as the end of 1826, the King had a change of heart. With the assistance of his architect, John Nash, he set about transforming the house into a palace. Parliament agreed to a budget of £150,000, but the King pressed for £450,000 as a more realistic figure.

Nash retained the main block but doubled its size by adding a new suite of rooms on the garden side facing west. Faced with mellow Bath stone, the external style reflected the French neo-classical influence favoured by George IV.

The remodelled rooms are the State and semi-State Rooms, which remain virtually unchanged since Nash's time.

Many of the pieces of furniture and works of art in these rooms were bought or made for Carlton House (George IV's London base when he was Prince of Wales), which was demolished in 1827.

The north and south wings of Buckingham House were demolished and rebuilt on a larger scale with a triumphal arch - the Marble Arch - as the centrepiece of an enlarged courtyard, to commemorate the British victories at Trafalgar and Waterloo.

By 1829 the costs had escalated to nearly half a million pounds. Nash's extravagance cost him his job, and on the death of George IV in 1830, his younger brother William IV took on Edward Blore to finish the work.

The King never moved into the Palace. Indeed, when the Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire in 1834, the King offered the Palace as a new home for Parliament, but the offer was declined.

Queen Victoria was the first sovereign to take up residence in July 1837, just three weeks after her accession, and in June 1838 she was the first British sovereign to leave from Buckingham Palace for a Coronation. Her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840 soon showed up the Palace's shortcomings.

A serious problem for the newly married couple was the absence of any nurseries and too few bedrooms for visitors. The only solution was to move the Marble Arch - it now stands at the north-east corner of Hyde Park - and build a fourth wing, thereby creating a quadrangle.

Blore, the architect in charge, created the East Front and, thanks largely to his builder, Thomas Cubitt, the costs were reduced from £150,000 to £106,000. The cost of the new wing was largely covered by the sale of George IV's Royal Pavilion at Brighton.

Blore added an attic floor to the main block of the Palace and decorated it externally with marble friezes originally intended for Nash's Marble Arch. The work was completed in 1847.

By the turn of the century the soft French stone used in Blore's East Front was showing signs of deterioration, largely due to London's notorious soot, and required replacing.

In 1913 the decision was taken to reface the façade. Sir Aston Webb, with a number of large public buildings to his credit, was commissioned to create a new design. Webb chose Portland Stone, which took 12 months to prepare before building work could begin. When work did start it took 13 weeks to complete the refacing, a process that included removing the old stonework.

The present forecourt of the Palace, where Changing the Guard takes place, was formed in 1911, as part of the Victoria Memorial scheme.

The gates and railings were also completed in 1911; the North-Centre Gate is now the everyday entrance to the Palace, whilst the Central Gate is used for State occasions and the departure of the guard after Changing the Guard.

The work was completed just before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

Prince William and Catherine Middleton celebrate St. Andrews University's 600th anniversary

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 08:00:22 +0000

Prince William and Catherine Middleton returned to their former university town of St. Andrews today, marking its 600th anniversary celebrations.

Arriving at the University of St. Andrews, the couple met dignitaries including the Lord Lieutenant of Fife, Margaret Dean and Sir Menzies Campbell MP who is Chancellor of the university.

The Prince and Catherine attended a reception in the Principal's house, before heading to the St. Andrews museum where they were shown the Papal Bulls for the university, which was founded in the 15th Century.

Prince William and Catherine first met each other while studying History of Art at the university, and their visit to St. Andrews was their first official engagement in Scotland.

The Prince made a speech to students and staff gathered in St. Salvator's Quad, telling them: "This is a very special moment for Catherine and me, it feels like coming home.

"Despite being one of Europe's leading research institutions, the third-oldest university in the English speaking world, and of course far and away the best university in the world, St. Andrews still has that uncanny knack of feeling like home and so it must have done for generations of undergraduates before us."

The Prince has not been to St. Andrews since he graduated in 2005, and he spoke with fondness about the town and university where he lived for four years.

Prince William has become Patron of the University of St. Andrews 600th anniversary appeal, which aims to raise £100 million to provide funding to scholarships and other projects.

On leaving the quad, The Prince and Catherine walked through the famous university archway, to the sound of bagpipes and cheering crowds. Walking along North Street, the couple spent time talking with the members of the public who turned up to see them.

Prince William and Catherine Middleton dedicate a lifeboat in Anglesey

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:00:32 +0000

Prince William and Catherine Middleton were greeted happily by the public as they arrived at Trearddur Bay, Anglesey today to dedicate a new lifeboat.

In their first official engagement since announcing their wedding, The Prince and Catherine were guests of honour at Trearddur Bay lifeboat station in North Wales.

His Royal Highness gave a speech saluting the work of RNLI rescue crews and Miss Middleton poured champagne over the boat to officially name it the Hereford Endeavour.

The crowd cheered as the couple spent time talking to them during the visit.

Preceding his speech, Prince William paid tribute to local rescue workers who travelled to New Zealand to help people devastated by the earthquake there.

The Prince, who is a fully-operational Search and Rescue Pilot based in Holyhead, told the crowd: "We are an island people.

"For people of the coast, such as the community here at Trearddur and throughout Anglesey, the sea forms part of everyday life.

"It is livelihood, pastime and heritage.

"But the sea is also unforgiving.

"Nobody knows better than the brave souls who put their lives on the line to save others from its grasp.

"That is why we, as islanders, hold in unique regard the courageous and selfless men and women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute.

"My family are proud of our long association with the RNLI.

"The Queen is its Patron today and The Duke of Kent is its President.

"And it gives me huge pleasure to be introducing to this relationship, here and now, someone who is not only about to join the family but is also about to become an Anglesonian."

The crowd cheered as Miss Middleton acknowledged the compliment with a laugh and nod.

The Prince added: "In my short time as a Search and Rescue Pilot I have been privileged to work with Aubrey Diggle and other volunteers of the Trearddur Bay lifeboat.

"I realise as we all do at RAF Valley what a vital part this new lifeboat plays in our combined effort to save people from the sea.

"And the Trearddur Bay crew themselves have to thank the generosity of the RNLI fundraising branches here - ably chivvied by Jack Abbott – and across the county of Herefordshire for this superb new rescue platform.

"I know I join everyone here in praying that Hereford Endeavour will keep them safe while they save others.

"God speed you in your dangerous, gallant work."

Wedding invitations have been sent out

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 05:05:22 +0000

Invitations to the wedding of Prince William and Miss Middleton have been issued in the name of Her Majesty The Queen.

The following groups of people have been invited to the wedding:

• Members of The Royal Family and their friends
• Members of the Middleton Family and their friends
• Friends of Prince William and Miss Middleton
• Members of Foreign Royal Families
• Representatives from the Defence Services
• Representatives from Prince William’s patronages
• Representatives from the Church and other faiths
• Members of the Government, Parliament and Devolved Administrations
• Members of the Diplomatic Corps
• Governors-General and Prime Ministers from the Realms
• Members of the Royal Household

Around 1,900 people have been invited to the service at Westminster Abbey.

Around 600 people have been invited to the lunchtime reception at Buckingham Palace given by The Queen.

Around 300 people have been invited to the dinner at Buckingham Palace given by The Prince of Wales.

Notes to Editors

Please note we are not releasing the names of individual invitees.

The invitations were posted on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

A rough breakdown of numbers of guests is as follows (this includes spouses):

• The vast majority of guests are drawn from Prince William and Miss Middleton’s Family and Friends – over 1,000
• Over 50 Members of The Royal Family
• Over 40 Members of Foreign Royal Families
• Over 200 Members of Government, Parliament and Diplomatic Corps
• Approximately 80 guests drawn from Prince William’s charities
• 60 Governors-General and Realm Prime Ministers
• 30 Members of the Defence Services

The EIIR on the invitation is die-stamped in gold and then burnished. The text on the invitation is also die-stamped. The edges of the invitation are bevelled then gilded.

An update on Maid of Honour and Bridesmaids, Best Man and Page Boys

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:00:16 +0000

Miss Catherine Middleton has asked her sister, Miss Philippa Middleton, to be her Maid of Honour.

Prince William has asked his brother, Prince Harry, to be his Best Man.

Prince William and Miss Middleton have chosen the following Bridesmaids and Page Boys:

The Lady Louise Windsor
(Aged 7 – daughter of The Earl and Countess of Wessex)

The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones
(Aged 8 – daughter of Viscount and Viscountess Linley)

Miss Grace van Cutsem
(Aged 3 – daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh van Cutsem)

Miss Eliza Lopes
(Aged 3 – daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lopes)

Master William (Billy) Lowther-Pinkerton
(Aged 10 – son of Mr. and Mrs. Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton)

Master Tom Pettifer
(Aged 8 – son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Pettifer )

Miss Grace van Cutsem and Master Tom Pettifer are godchildren of Prince William.

Details about the Bridesmaids’ dresses and the Page Boys’ uniforms will be made available on the Wedding Day.

Notes to Editors

Please note that all the children’s parents have informed us that they do not wish to talk to the media.

The ages above are the Bridesmaids’ and Page Boys’ ages on the day of the wedding.

Official Royal Wedding China launched by the Royal Collection

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:00:31 +0000

The Royal Collection has launched an official range of commemorative china to mark the forthcoming wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton on 29th April 2011.

The official Royal Wedding range has been approved by the couple and includes a tankard (£35), eight-inch plate (£40) and pill box (£25) in English fine bone china. Each piece bears the couple’s entwined initials in gold and silver surmounted by the coronet of Prince William and the wedding date.

The range is decorated with a pattern of doves, white ribbons and hearts in silver, gold and grey, set against a pale-grey striped background. Handmade exclusively for the Royal Collection in Stoke-on-Trent using methods that have remained unchanged for 250 years, each item is individually decorated and then embellished with several layers of burnished gold and platinum before a final layer of gilding in 22-carat gold is applied by hand.

All pieces come in a presentation box and are wrapped in white tissue-paper printed with designs inspired by the wall hangings in Clarence House.

The official Royal Wedding commemorative range can be purchased from the Royal Collection’s online shop and Royal Collection shops at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

Further information

Visit the Royal Collection website

Prince William and Catherine Middleton attend a Christmas charity concert

Sat, 18 Dec 2010 17:00:36 +0000

Prince William and his fiancée Catherine Middleton attended a Christmas charity Spectacular tonight in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Their first official appearance together in public was at the Thursford Collection in Norfolk, and saw them enjoying performances from a variety of acts before meeting a group of young cancer patients from across East Anglia.

The charity gala raised money for the Teenage Cancer Trust, whose mission is to raise funds, educate, and support teenagers fighting cancer.

Prince William was invited as guest of honour by the Chairman of Teenage Cancer Trust East Anglia’s Appeal, Mrs Van Cutsem, a family friend.

As President of The Royal Marsden Hospital, a world-leading cancer centre specialising in the diagnosis, treatment, care, education and research, Prince William takes a keen interest in the cause.

Arriving at the event, The Prince joked with members of the crowd, complimenting one group of teenagers who were dressed as elves by saying their hats were “cool”.

Proceeds from the evening will go towards the construction of the first specialist cancer unit for young people at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

The unit will be designed to reflect a young person's life outside hospital as closely as possible, unlike other ordinary hospital wards where young cancer patients may be placed on children's wards with babies and young children on adult wards alongside elderly patients.

Further information

Official website: Find out more about Prince William’s Charities and Patronages

Gallery - The official engagement photographs by Mario Testino

Sun, 12 Dec 2010 08:00:10 +0000

View the official engagement photographs by Mario Testino. The photographs were taken at St. James's Palace. Read the terms of release.

The official engagement photographs of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton taken by Mario Testino

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 08:00:32 +0000

Prince William and Miss Middleton have chosen to release two official portrait photographs to mark their engagement.

The photographs were taken by photographer Mario Testino on 25th November 2010 in the State Apartments of St. James’s Palace, London.

Mario Testino said: "I am very happy to have been asked to cover this historic moment that the whole world was waiting for.

"They are in their prime and brimming with happiness. I have never felt so much joy as when I see them together.”

The pictures are available from the Press Association and other photographic agencies for editorial use.

Read the terms of release

The service will be held at Westminster Abbey

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:00:09 +0000

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

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

The service will begin at 11am on Friday 29th April.

His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton are engaged to be married

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:00:24 +0000

The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton.

The wedding will take place in the Spring or Summer of 2011, in London. Further details about the wedding day will be announced in due course.

Prince William and Miss Middleton became engaged in October during a private holiday in Kenya. Prince William has informed The Queen and other close members of his family. Prince William has also sought the permission of Miss Middleton’s father.

Following the marriage, the couple will live in North Wales, where Prince William will continue to serve with the Royal Air Force.