Kate's wedding vows will skip the 'obey' part

Here's one word you won't here in Westminster Abbey on April 29: "Obey."

Following in the steps of Princess Diana, Kate Middleton will skip over the "obey" part of the traditional wedding vows, according to reports.

Not too much of a surprise, really, considering if flies in the face of all the evidence that suggests this has been a very equal union between the her and Prince William.

Diana was the first to break with the old vows in 1981 when she wed Prince Charles. Considering the 10-year relationship of William and Kate and their co-habitation for the last several years, one suspects they've learned that "compromise" might be a more apt word to apply.

In any case, it's not a decision that will rankle the Church of England hierarchy.

“They have a very simple, very direct picture of what really matters about this event,” said Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the man who will marry them next Friday. “I think they are deeply unpretentious people.”

A report in the Daily Mirror says the language of her vows will include "love, comfort, honour and keep."

Archbishop Williams met with the couple privately to discuss the wedding and was suitably impressed.

“I’ve been very struck by the way in which William and Catherine have approached this great event," he said. "They’ve thought through what they want for themselves, but also what they want to say."

Cranston denies being wedding dress designer

You can add Sophie Cranston to the list of designers who insist they have nothing to do with Kate Middleton's wedding dress.

The Huffington Post's Yvonne Yorke had revealed earlier this week that Cranston (right), who had designed a dress that Middleton wore to a wedding in January, was the for-sure winner of the dress sweepstakes. Now, Cranston's label, Libélula, has issued a statement: ""For the purpose of clarification, we are not designing Kate Middleton's wedding dress. We, like everyone else, can't wait to find out who is."

So, back to square one presumably, although it's been standard practice lately for any designer mentioned as a candidate to deny deny deny. Someday, they will make good politicians.

The money is still on Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen.

Video'Wedding Book' launched

Having discovered social media the royal family is hoping to wield their digital might with an onslaught of well-wishing messages from wedding watchers across the globe.

That, or they just want people to stop sending cards.

An official video "Wedding Book" was launched Tuesday on the royal's YouTube channel, inviting people around the world to upload congratulations videos for the couple.

So far, happy well wishers seem most impressed with the day off and opportunity to toast the newly weds (mulitple times).

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But that hasn't stopped Clarence House from getting behind the initiative, posting a link to the video below on their Twitter feed Wednesday.

Kate Middleton shops, sparking honeymoon speculation

Three dresses bought by Kate Middleton at Warehouse's King's Road shop in London. (Facebook)

The High Street princess is back.

Forget talk of haute couture wedding gowns and designer bridesmaid dresses, Kate Middleton threw the British public a low-cost fashion lifeline Tuesday by purchasing four dresses for 225 pounds sterling ($350) at a commoner's shop.

Luckily, the PR team at Warehouse were on hand to quickly issue a press release on her purchases, hoping to cash in on the league of young royal watchers eager to emulate Kate's style.

The bride-to-be was also spotted shopping on King's Road by the Daily Mail on Wednesday (right photo). Except for a lone bodyguard, Kate, looking slim and happy, easily melted into the shopping crowd.

So, what did Kate buy in her 20-minute jaunt around Warehouse?

  A tropical bird print dress, a bright floral frill dress, a feather print one shoulder dress and lace trim square blouse. All of her purchases were size 8s and ranged from 45-65 pounds sterling ($70-$100).

Vanessa, the store manager at the Warehouse King's Road location Kate dropped-in on, gushed: "It was really great to meet her, she was really down to to earth and lovely."

Surprisingly, Vanessa also added: "She loved what she bought."

Of course the fact that Kate bought such summery dresses has sparked speculation that her honeymoon is going to be somewhere hot, with Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean all being named as wager worthy options.

Britain is also experiencing a spring heat wave, so if the dresses are any indication you could also put your money on Bromley.

 

Royal-in-waiting Kate joins most beautiful club

Kate Middleton hasn’t even tried on tiara yet, but she is already being counted among the most beautiful royals in the world … ever. Middleton finished third in an online poll done by BeautifulPeople.com, vaulting her past the legendary Princess Diana.

Admittedly, it’s all in good fun and hardly scientific, but the poll does pull in a wide cross section of royals past and present. Number 1? Well, just think movies and Monaco, then see our Top 10 gallery.

As for the men, it’s Prince Carl Philip of Sweden(photo)  that finished on top.

Prince William was fourth and his brother Harry fifth. Prince Andrea of Monaco and Prince Frederick of Denmark were second and third.

British royalty has it tough when it’s in competition with the classic Nordic specimens and that was felt in this poll. The bottom of the poll was dominated by Brits, including Camilla (24 per cent approval rating), Sarah Ferguson (16 per cent) and Princess Anne (14 per cent).

Royals announce wedding day streaming plans

The Royal Family has unveiled its online plans for Wedding Day. As expected, they include all the popular video and photo sharing sites, along with social media. Here are some of the highlights:

Video streaming

The Royal Family's YouTube channel will stream the events on April 29 between 5 and 9 a.m (Toronto time). The feed will come from the BBC, but without the commentary.

This will include the Couple’s journey to and from Westminster Abbey, the Wedding Service, balcony appearance and the fly past.

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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.

Photos

The Royal Family will also be posting images to their Flickr page througout the day, promising "hidden corners of Westminster Abbey and unusual views from inside and outside Buckingham Palace."

Tweets

The Royal Family will also use the Clarence House Twitter account to provide live updates throughout the wedding day. 

Facebook

Finally, the Royal Family says it will update its Facebook page hourly throughout the big day.

For full details, check the Royal Wedding official site.

Kate Middleton's coat of arms revealed

The new Coat of Arms for Kate Middleton's family are seen at the College of Arms in London. (AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett)

All hail the acorn Princess.

Clarence House has tweeted Kate Middleton's coat of arms. To be fair, this being an aristocratic tradition, the coat of arms was granted to her father and then modified for Middleton.

The blue and red decal sports three acorns, a gold chevron and a blue ribbon. No lions, tigers, crowns or beavers.  Not even a chipmunk for the future princess.

Let's delve into the great significance of the design:

"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 press release from Clarence House reads.

Stable and English, so far Middleton is someone the royals can clearly buy into.

The gold chevron symbolizes Kate's mother's maiden name Goldsmith, with the two smaller chevrons representing hills and mountains where Kate enjoys hiking (well done Wales, you got a mention there.)

"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," the press release continues.

Does this mean she suffers frequently from colds and what happens to the ribbon after the wedding?  Is it just tied onto Prince Williams coat of arms? Almost, according to Thomas Woodcock, the Garter King of Arms and Senior Herald in England (meaning he knows about these things):

“Every Coat of Arms has been designed to identify a person, school or organization, 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."

Apparently, each coat of arms has a blazon or phrase used by connoisseurs to describe it.  The new Middleton arms is described as: Per pale Azure and Gules a Chevron Or cotised Argent between three Acorns slipped and leaved Or.

Right.

William and Kate face dark wedding

A A staff member tries out the 3D Westminster Abbey interactive guide in the well lit part of the building. (Photo Illustration by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Staff at Westminster Abbey are hoping the venue chosen for the royal wedding won't suffer lights-out on the big day.

Power outages have hit the abbey twice in the past month, but what really has the clergy trembling is that both outages have been on a Friday, the day of the week the wedding falls on.

"This is slightly alarming, if the electricity goes at some point on the morning of April 29th then we shall certainly be upset about that," the Dean of Westminster Abbey John Hall told Reuters.

"In fact, our clerk of works has been very closely in touch with our electricity suppliers and changed various fuses, so we hope all that is going to be fine," he added.

With two billion eyes expected to be on Kate as she hauls her gown down the aisle, the world's candle makers must have their fingers crossed that an unscheduled dimming will lead to a flickering-wick glow that brides-to-be can't resist.

That or the presence of a church packed with dignitaries and their cell phones will see the couple wedded under a regal, blue glow.

Despite the potential electrical hitch, media attention and the presence of Elton John, the dean insists that William and Kate will have a wedding experience similar to any couple tying the knot at their parish church.

"It is always a privilege marrying a couple," Hall told Reuters. "(This) is the same thing, but on a bigger scale."

At least when they are plunged into darkness, guests will be able to pull out their iPads and use a new app to appreciate the abbey's more salient, once-illuminated pieces. On sale for 2.99 pounds ($5), the 3D,interactive app overlays descriptions with photos of the gothic building's features. While pulling out the audio guide during the ceremony is bad form, at least with the app you can pretend you were looking at the royal's official wedding page if they catch you out.

The guest list revealled...sort of

Speculation has been rife over who will actually be attending the wedding. While most of the 1,900 names are under wraps, here are the dignitaries, celebs and family members that have confirmed they will be taking their places in the pews: 

FOREIGN ROYALS

— Belgium's Crown Prince Philippe and his wife Princess Mathilde

— Denmark's Queen Margrethe

— Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja

— Serbia's Crown Prince Alexander and his wife, Crown Princess Katherine

— Spain's Queen Sofia, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia

— Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria and her husband, Prince Daniel

— The Netherlands' Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima

— Prince Philipp zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his wife, Princess Saskia.

CELEBRITIES

— David and Victoria Beckham

— Elton John and his partner, David Furnish

POLITICIANS and DIPLOMATS

— British Prime Minister David Cameron

— British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg

— British Labour Party leader Ed Miliband

— British Virgin Islands Prime Minister Ralph T. O'Neal

— American Ambassador Louis Susman

— Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Gov. Gen. Arthur Foulkes

— German Ambassador Georg Boomgaarden

— Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor

— Jamaican Gov. Gen. Patrick Allen

— Polish Ambassador Barbara Tuge-Ereciska


RELIGIOUS FIGURES

— Britain's Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

— Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala, director of the London Buddhist Vihara monastery

FRIENDS & FAMILY

— The Spencer family will be well represented with Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, and her two sisters, Lady Jane Fellowes and Sarah McCorquodale, attending with their families. 

— All 27 members of Prince William's search-and-rescue unit, C Flight 22, have been invited along with their partners