By Gary Strauss, Maria Puente, Marco R. della Cava and Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY
LONDON � The wedding of the century wrapped in about an hour Friday as Britain's Prince William married Catherine "Kate" Middleton in a storybook ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
By Martin Meissner, AP
Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, stand outside of Westminster Abbey after their wedding.
By Martin Meissner, AP
Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, stand outside of Westminster Abbey after their wedding.
The longtime sweethearts began dating while students at the University of St. Andrews in 2002. Their on-again, off-again relationship, cemented by an engagement announcement in November, restored fascination and luster to a British monarchy on levels unmatched since the star-crossed marriage of Prince William's mother, Lady Diana, to Prince Charles in July 1981.
William, 28, is second in line to the throne. Kate, 29, a commoner, is the daughter of Michael and Carole Middleton, a former British Airways flight supervisor and flight attendant who became self-made millionaires after starting an Internet mail-order business.
William appeared to mouth the words "you look beautiful" when Kate joined him at the altar. Though the groom seemed composed, the bride tightly gripped her father's hand before saying her vows, reciting them so softly they were hard to hear. As William slipped the wedding ring onto Kate's finger, it got hung up for a moment on her finger joint until he finally coaxed it into place. She escaped any such awkwardness: Her husband will not wear a wedding ring, standard for male royal family members.
The celebrity-studded event, attended by 1,900, included singer Elton John, soccer star David Beckham and scores of royals and luminaries. A global TV audience was estimated at 2 billion, many who began watching coverage at 4 a.m. ET. About 650 were invited to a post-wedding lunch given by the queen, and 300 close friends of William and Kate's were expected for an evening dinner and dance. Prince Harry, William's younger brother and the best man, planned a Saturday morning breakfast for those with the stamina to party all night.
Royal fever was widespread in the USA, where events included live viewing in New York's Times Square and a celebration party complete with prince and princess attire at Walt Disney World's Wedding Pavilion. For months, the media have been filled with royal wedding stories, building to frenzied coverage over the past week. More than 8,000 journalists, photographers and other media types covered the event.
There was speculation over attendees, wedding cakes, honeymoon locales and the bride's wedding dress.
For the record: Kate wore a white Sarah Burton creation with a 9-foot train and an ivory veil trimmed with embroidered flowers, held in place by a Cartier Halo tiara borrowed from the queen. "I thought the dress was elegant and it hit that perfect balance of being a dress that reflected her personal style, but was also appropriate for the regal event and location," said Darcy Miller, editorial director of Martha Stewart Weddings.
The bouquet was shield-shaped with myrtle, lily of the valley, sweet William and hyacinth and made by floral designer Shane Connolly. The tradition of carrying myrtle began with Queen Victoria.
Prince William, a Royal Air Force officer who serves as a search-and-rescue pilot, wore a cap and mounted officer dress uniform, befitting his honorary appointment in the Royal Army. He is commissioned in all three armed services and was made honorary colonel of the Irish Guards last year. His choice of uniform was considered a diplomatic move in light of the queen's scheduled visit to Ireland next month.
As custom, William received a new title before the wedding, when his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II bestowed the title of duke of Cambridge ? the highest rank in British peerage ? on him. Kate will be known as the duchess of Cambridge. They were also given the Scottish titles of earl and countess of Strathearn.
A testimony to British tradition, the wedding offered many, especially Britons, some respite from hard economic times and a government-imposed austerity plan. There were even betting pools wagering on everything from the color of the queen's hat to who might cry at the ceremony to potential gaffes.
"I'm not a massive royal family watcher, but it's been absolutely fascinating, in part because William is very much Diana's son," says Nathalie Haxby, communication director for British media agency MEC who watched the event on TV. "But it's as much about the fairy tale ? Kate becoming a princess and ascending to this royal, fairy-tale family."
Expat Margaret Jones, an executive assistant who has lived in Indiana since 1983, planned to DVR the event. "The pomp and circumstance is a nice positive thing to watch," she said.
The palace has not disclosed the cost of the wedding, but estimates are in the tens of millions of dollars. The royal family and Middleton's parents paid for the wedding; British taxpayers picked up the tab for security, about $32 million.
London police estimate that up to 1 million wedding enthusiasts flooded the streets in densely packed London, including many who camped on the streets for days before the big event. Worries that anarchists would spoil the festivities proved unfounded. The Metropolitan Police announced that as of midday, they'd arrested 43 people in or near the wedding area, mostly for minor offenses such as breach of the peace and drunkenness.
Generally, royal watchers were well behaved. When William and Kate left Westminster Abbey in a horse-drawn carriage bound for Buckingham Palace, they drew huge cheers from flag-waving well-wishers.
About an hour after the ceremony, the couple exchanged two brief kisses before an adoring crowd at Buckingham Palace. Later, the couple took a brief unscripted ride on London's Mall in Prince Charles' vintage Aston Martin convertible, waving to fans outside Buckingham Palace, with William behind the wheel. The license plate read "JU5T? WED."
Anne Larsen, 34, flew in from Boulder, Colo., on Thursday. "I was giddy flying in yesterday. I had butterflies in my stomach."
Larsen had planned to watch the wedding on the Mall but wound up in a restaurant near St. James's Palace. As she sipped Champagne, Larsen checked her phone. "All my friends are up at home. I've had about 25 texts," she said.
Louise Llewellyn brought daughter Megan, 15, in from Southampton. "We're royalists," Louise said. They plotted where to go for the best viewing spot. "We've got milk crates with us," she said, in case they needed to step above the crowd.
Jonathan Nosworthy of rural Warwickshire watched with daughters Rebecca, 4, and Ellie, 5. "It's fun for the little ones to be able to talk about this when they're 90. Not that anyone can really see anything, anyway," Nosworthy said. "They're obsessed with it."
Eugenia Preoteasa, a Romanian immigrant who works in catering, had her nose pressed up against the plate-glass window of a restaurant just off Piccadilly. Inside, flat-screen TVs carried images of a beaming Kate inside Westminster Abbey.
"Oh my, oh my, she is just so beautiful," says Preoteasa of Braila, Romania. "I was waiting and so curious to see about if she would wear her hair down, and she did."
Preoteasa said Kate reminds her of a daughter studying piano in Birmingham, Ala. "She will certainly be calling me to ask about the details of the day here. And you know what? Her name is Diana," she says with a smile.
Why not just stay at home in front of her own TV? "No, I had to be out here," she says, sweeping an arm toward the flag-waving throngs passing by. "This is what it is all about. Everyone celebrating together."
Contributing: Traci Watson, Arienne Thompson and the Associated Press
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