Prince William and Kate Middleton: New Wedding Details Released by Palace

With less than four months to go until the royal wedding between Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton, new wedding details have been released by Buckingham Palace Wednesday.

According the Prince of Wales' website, the wedding, scheduled for April 29, will begin 11 a.m. at Westminster Abbey. Unlike Diana, who traveled to her wedding in a horse-drawn glass coach (reminiscent of our favorite fairy tale princesses), Catherine will break tradition and travel to the church by car. The procession will travel along a route that includes such London landmarks as the Horse Guards Parade and Parliament Square.

Three clergymen will take part in the ceremony: The Dean of Westminster will conduct the wedding ceremony; the Archbishop of Canterbury will preside over the vows; and the Bishop of London Richard Chartres will give the address.

Horse-Drawn Carriage Will Carry the Prince and Princess-to-Be to Buckingham Palace Following Ceremony:

Following their wedding, the royal couple will go to Buckingham Palace in a horse-drawn carriage on a Processional Route. William's parents - Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales - traveled by open-topped state landau following their nuptials in 1981 at St. Paul's Cathedral. They then made an appearance on the balcony where they gave each other a kiss to cheers from the crowd.

Prince William and his bride will likely make a brief appearance on the balcony at Buckingham Palace following the wedding.

Wedding of the Century Will Draw Big Crowds and Worldwide Viewers:

An estimated 2,000 people are expected to attend the wedding of the century with millions watching from home. Thousands will likely fill the streets of London in hopes of catching a glimpse of the Prince and his bride.

More than 3,000 attended William's parents wedding with an estimated 750 million worldwide viewers tuning in on their television sets. In London, a crowd of 600,000 people filled the streets to see the couple.

Wedding Reception and Dinner:

Queen Elizabeth II will then host a reception for the newlyweds at the palace and will include "guests drawn from the congregation representing the couple's official private lives."

Following the reception, Prince Charles will hold a private dinner-dance for his son and daughter-in-law at Buckingham Palace.

There has been no word on who is designing Princess-to-be Catherine's wedding gown yet. I suspect this will be kept secret until just prior to their wedding day.

Sources:
The Prince of Wales - The wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton - an update