Prince William and Kate Middleton

[Grace]

Can't they find anything more worthwhile for the scouts to do than this rubbish?  Unbelievable!

[Robert_Hall]

looking at it from the otherside of the coin,  with all the missing persons, especially children,  the Scouts do  get involved these searches. Perhaps this session was to make the  "victims"  more realistic ? It is  fairly OTT, I agree, but hopefully for as good purpose.

[Grace]

The British Monarchy Facebook page has released a list of the attendants for the April 29 wedding:

The Wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton – Maid of Honour and Bridesmaids, Best Man and Page Boys
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.

[Lucien]

http://gpdhome.typepad.com/royalblognl_news_summary/2011/02/prince-harry-to-be-williams-best-man.html

courtesy hja

[grandduchessella]

The British Monarchy Facebook page has released a list of the attendants for the April 29 wedding:

The Wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton – Maid of Honour and Bridesmaids, Best Man and Page Boys
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.

Mrs Charles Pettifer is the former Tiggy Legge-Bourke, nanny to William & Harry. Harry is godfather to her other son.

William (Billy) Lowther-Pinkerton is the son of the part-time Private Secretary to William & Harry.

Eliza Lopes is Camiilla's granddaughter.

Miss Grace van Cutsem is the great-great-granddaughter of  Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor and Nancy Witcher Langhorne, the famous Nancy Astor.

[Lucien]

New coins in a fountain:

http://www.ppe-agency.com/show.php?zoektype=2&search=16-02-2011%20A

Courtesy ppe

[RoyalWatcher]

Thank you for the link, Lucien.

This coin is much better than the one issued by the Royal Mint; however, the likenesses are not quite right either. William's hairline is just wrong (he's not 20 years old any longer) and the woman next to him doesn't look very much like Kate at all. I know, I know...everyone's a critic.

I dub this the royal wedding coin fiasco!

[Lucien]

Thank you for the link, Lucien.

This coin is much better than the one issued by the Royal Mint; however, the likenesses are not quite right either. William's hairline is just wrong (he's not 20 years old any longer) and the woman next to him doesn't look very much like Kate at all. I know, I know...everyone's a critic.

I dub this the royal wedding coin fiasco!

These are just made for the fountain of "Three coins in a fountain",more tricky tacky "art" will fill up London's shops,and indeed all
of the UK and the Commonwealth......there even are rubbers,...yes,those,with William and Catherine on 'm..I mean really,how tacky
can it get and what rats pop out of the woodworks all over the island...

[Douglas]

President and Mrs Obama not invited to royal wedding...

I'm not surprised by this.  They do not belong at this wedding. 

[Robert_Hall]

Neither am I, Douglas, Especially as the Obamas will have a state visit so soon after the event. Perhaps the Sec. of State or just the ambassador will attend.

[grandduchessella]

It seems that the heads of state that are being invited (I think I read 40?) are Commonwealth countries or ones in the Gulf that have a relationship (or the British government wants to cement ties with) already. As Robert pointed out, the Obamas are paying a state visit anyway. One news article also said the British didn't want to deal with the headaches & cost of dealing with the US President. Nancy Reagan attended Charles & Diana's on her own, didn't she? Did anyone attend Andrew's or Anne's? (Edward's was pretty low-key.)

This same article stated that all of the jewels have been pulled out for Kate to peruse--including many that haven't seen the light of day in decades. Hope that's true.  They also speculated that even if William becomes Duke of Cambridge (and thus the tiara would be very appropriate) Kate probably won't wear the Cambridge Lover's Knot because of its Diana associations. Still, if Kate does become the Duchess of Cambridge, it would be lovely to see her in some Cambridge jewels--at least down the line.

[Robert_Hall]

I do not remember who represented the US at the  [first] Wales wedding,  But one of the first ladies was at the Diana funeral, as I recall.
 The Commonwealth states are perfectly understandable.  and any of the   Arab princes would, IMO, be those who are personal friends of the family  such as the Sultan of Brunei.  [I know, not an Arab, but still a Moslem and a  good friend of the Wales.
 BTW, I have been told, quite recently that the Duchess of York was "consulted" about attending,  as her daughters  are part of the wedding party, but it was mutual, she did not expect to go and had other plans anyway. I can see that- she did not wish to distract attention form the bridal couple. I hope the rest of the royal rabble behave with such dignity.

[grandduchessella]

Are Beatrice & Eugenie just guests? I hadn't seen them listed in the bridal party. It thought it was just Pippa as MOH and then all the little girls.

[Patrick M]

Nancy Reagan attended the first Wales wedding as the official representative of the United States. Hillary Clinton attended the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in a personal capacity. Neither the U.S., nor any other foreign government, had official representatives at the funeral because it was not a state event. Then First Lady, Clinton hosted the princess at a high-profile breakfast at the White House to raise awareness of breast cancer research during the last year of the princess' life.

[Robert_Hall]

Thank you, Patrick, for the clarification.
  As to the Yorks, to be honest, I do not know what role the princesses will play.  At first I thought they were to be bridesmaids,  but I cannot verify that at all.
 My pal  just told me Sarah was consulted and it was an amicable  arrangement that she not be there. NOT to distract attention from the bridal couple. Easy, when one looks at it. No noise, nastiness nor notoriety.