Kate's parents to spend 100,000 pounds on her wedding

London: With their daughter set to marry Prince William, parents of Kate Middleton will be spending about 100,000 pounds to pay for expenses like bridal gowns and hotel suites bills.

According to a report in 'The Sunday Times', Carole and Michael Middleton, mother and father of Kate will also contribute to the cost of an evening reception and disco hosted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace, apart from paying bills for hotel suites, bridal gowns, bridemaids dresses, the maid of honour's outfit and the honeymoon.

Kate's parents have made millions from their mail order party business.

They will pay for several suites at the Goring hotel in Belgravia including 4,000 pounds-a-night two-bedroom, five-room suite for Kate and her sister Pippa, the maid of honour.

One-room Belgravia suites costing 1,140 pounds each including Vat will be taken for Carole and Michael, their son James, Kate's brother, plus a number of other close relatives and friends.

The Goring is not far from Buckingham Palace.

The hotel bill alone is expected to touch 20,000 pounds, including dinner, breakfast and drinks.

Other expenses include 30,000 pounds for Kate's bridal gowns and 20,000 pounds for Pippa's dress.

Prince Charles will cover most of the other costs and the Queen will host the lunchtime reception.

The cost of Prince Charles' wedding to Lady Diana in 1981 was estimated to have been 30 million pounds, but most of the security costs were picked up by the taxpayer.

Even Charles's modest wedding to his second wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, may have cost 5 million pounds.

An official spokesman for Prince Charles said, "The Middletons have offered to contribute to the cost of the wedding. How much they contribute is a private matter".

British royals go digital for wedding

The man not yet king of England is facing his sternest test yet. Public expectations are high. The event is to be played out across a challenging new medium of communication, and the family turns to professionals for help.

Is it the story of William Windsor and a certain royal wedding circa 2011? Or is it 'Bertie' Windsor and the King's Speech, made to the nation in 1939 on the then new-fangled medium of radio?

When Prince William and Kate Middleton marry on April 29, they will be the 16th royal couple to wed in Westminster Abbey -- but they will be the first to have their nuptials played out, in real time, as a global web event.

In a sign of the digital times, William's official residence, Clarence House, in November chose Twitter, along with an old-fashioned press release, to announce his engagement to his university sweetheart.

With over 28,000 followers on the microblogging site, the @ClarenceHouse page has been regularly used to reveal details about the ceremony.

The royals also have channels on Facebook, YouTube and the photo-sharing Flickr site -- although their online popularity lags behind that of Jordan's Queen Rania, who has nearly one-and-a-half million followers on Twitter and more than 600,000 fans on Facebook.

The British royal family have just over 323,000 "likes" on the site.

Communicating its message to its subjects is nothing new for the royal family -- it has been part of the monarchy's arsenal since the days of Henry V at Agincourt and Elizabeth I rallying the troops before the Armada.

The first radio speeches introduced to the future George VI in the 1930s were a landmark change, followed by TV chats, and today, full-blown online communication.

"In using these social media sites we are able to communicate with a wider audience in new and creative ways," Nick Loughran, press officer to Prince William, told AFP.

Tim Jordan, senior lecturer in media at King's College London, says the web helps the publicly-funded monarchy to justify its existence in a time of deep economic malaise.

"They're using the Facebook and Twitter pages to make it clear how much work they do, particularly the more minor members of the royal family who don't get so much media attention elsewhere," he told AFP.

He said the Facebook page allows the royalty to gather public feedback on their activities, noting that its administrators do not always remove derogatory comments.

For Charlie Beckett, director of the POLIS media think tank, this two-way communication is a crucial means for the royal family to regain legitimacy lost after the death of William's mother Princess Diana in a 1997 car crash.

The royals caused a huge public outcry by refusing, initially at least, to publicly express any grief over the death of Diana, who was by that time divorced from heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles.

Public opinion was "teetering on the republican" side, says Beckett, adding: "The royal family never wants to be seen as out of touch again.

"This allows them to say to the British public, 'Come and post comments, even if you are a bit cross with us we are human, we are friendly.'"

But the rise of social media may work against the royal family.

Anti-monarchists are using Facebook to organise protests against the cost of the wedding, amid steep public spending cuts by the coalition government. So far more than 500 people have signed up for a rally on the big day.

Other web-users simply see the wedding as a chance to have some royal fun.

More than 120,000 people have joined a Facebook group called "Royal Wedding Drinking Game", allowing members to post commands to drinkers watching the proceedings on television.

Spoof accounts are also creeping onto the main social networking sites. One cheeky Twitter page, @William_HRH, has over 10,000 followers. "Dear deluded subjects, if you have yet to receive your invitation, chances are you never will," the faux prince tweets.

Jordan expects the wedding to be among the top trending topics on Twitter on the day, adding: "I expect 'Kate Middleton's hair' will be a popular topic."

An official mobile phone app telling the story of seven past royal weddings has been released but it will have to compete with a host of unofficial apps, ranging from photo galleries to clocks counting down to the big day.

Meanwhile an audio recording of the wedding ceremony will be available for almost instant download on iTunes, and officials are considering streaming the event live on the official website.

Traditionalists need not worry that the pace of technological change in the royal household is out of control, however. "Save-the-date" notices to European royals were sent out, 1980s style, by fax.

Kate Middleton Gets All Dolled Up For Perverts Everywhere�..

Well we�re certainly hoping that isn�t the case. Charming Chap Prince William may be wedding Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011, but now anyone with $195.00, or 3 easy payments of $65.00, can have her taking residence inside the confines of your very own home. Yes, you really can take her home----and place the regal doll version of her on your shelf to be adored for years to come. Middleton is as an authentic likeness of herself, completely hand painted, wearing the blue silk jersey dress that she sported on the day of her engagement announcement. So now, here comes the really exciting part of this entire posting. Even as a doll, Middleton is wearing miniature replicas of the jewelry she wore, including the necklace, earrings, and engagement ring. It�s all been expertly and meticulously done in simulated sapphires, diamonds and other jewels.



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Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress Will Be An Alexander McQueen Design

Kate Middleton has finally decided who will be designing her wedding dress for her much anticipated wedding to Prince William.

Kate will be doning a Alexander McQueen label on her dress but will be designed by ?Sarah Burton, who took over as creative director of Alexander McQueen after his tragic suicide.

The royal wedding will take place on April 29, 2011.

Source

Kate Middleton "It's a Nice Day for a Black Wedding Dress?"

Back in early January, Kate Middleton caused a royal scandal by wearing black to a friend's wedding. She is not alone in creating a first faux pas as a newly engaged royal. Her late future mother-in-law, Princess Diana, was literally in the same shoes as Kate wearing black to an event.

The so-called shocking ensemble comprised of dark colors, with a velvet coat. Some British reporters wonder if she'll wear black on her wedding day. Once upon a time white was not the acceptable wedding color. The color black is now becoming more appreciated and fashionable as a wedding dress color. Black makes one look slimmer. Who knows what color Kate's dress will be on April 29?

It all started with her propensity for wearing dark colors to her royal friends, Harry Aubrey's and Louise Stourton's, wedding in Yorkshire, England, on Jan. 8. Prince William, Prince Harry and Princess Beatrice, the daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of West Yorksire, were also in attendance. This was a royal family outing as William was an usher.

Kate's wedding guest ensemble featured a black pillbox hat, black velvet Libelula topcoat and a black dress that was above the knee with a sheer neckline. Traditionally, the royals only wear black for funerals. Shortly after she was engaged to Prince Charles, Diana caused quite a stir by wearing a long black gown with a revealing neckline to an official event.

This is not a color one would think to have as a wedding dress, though it is gaining acceptance little by little. They now come in all types of styles for the average bride. The traditional white wedding gown is becoming more antiquated as it is meant to be for purity and a virgin.

One of the all-time classic fashion pieces is the little black dress. Black is a hugely popular color to wear in the evenings. Economically speaking, another reason more and more brides are going for black wedding dresses is they can wear it for other occasions. It is nearly impossible to find another way to wear a white wedding dress.

Wearing different colors, such as red, as a wedding dress is catching on. Some brides may want to wear their favorite color, which isn't surprising if Kate decides on this trend. Times have greatly changed when Charles and Diana got married in 1981. Not only that, Prince William is not in direct line to the throne yet. Hopefully, royal traditions will be a bit relaxed for William and Kate as this isn't a state occasion.