Prince William & Kate Middleton to Marry at Westminster Abbey on April 29th, 2011: Finally!

Westminster Abbey is the site of the upcoming wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. The Telegraph states Mr. Lowther-Pinkerton, William's secretary noted that "The couple were moved to choose the venue because of its staggering beauty, its 1,000 years of royal history and its relative intimacy despite its size."

Prince William has said he wanted a spring wedding and it looks like he managed to get his way. The date of the wedding will be April 29, 2011.

A Public Holiday

This will be a new public holiday in Britain. And the date of the wedding falls on a Friday, so it will be a long weekend of wedding celebrations in London. This date is also the Feast of Saint Catherine, which relates to Kate's full name, which is Catherine.

Prince William moves rapidly once he makes up his mind about what he wants. He is said to have told his aides of his engagement to be married just several hours before the news was made pubic, notes the Daily Mail.

Lately the queen has been making jokes that she has "no idea" what is happening with the wedding plans, states the Daily Mail. Times are changing and the routines of the royals seem to be loosening up. There was always a lot of information in the media about how Princess Diana could not fathom all the pomp and circumstance of the royals. But perhaps now William is using his charm to get his grandmother, the queen, to let him have more decision making power to plan his own wedding.

Let's hope Kate and William will have good weather for their wedding day. April weather can be a bit iffy. But a bit of rain never hurt anyone and it is said to be good luck too.

Of course the crowds that will arrive near the Abbey to be outside in the area the day of the wedding will be hoping for good weather. This wedding will be a huge event that will see the streets of London crowded with revelers.

Prince William and Kate Middleton: True Love

Let's hope this marriage is a true love match. They've been dating for so many years it must surely be love. After the debacle of the marriage of Charles and Diana we hope to see love bloom for William, who unlike his father, is probably marrying for love rather than following arcane rules about having to marry a royal and a virgin and so on.

The world, or at least me, cannot handle another royal marriage falling apart and hearing about secret tapes made about Charles having illicit conversations with Camilla talking about how he wants to be her tampon or some such randy sweet talking trash. It is still hard to imagine such a pompous looking man swooning so over his mistress.

The Future for William & Kate

Kate plans to start doing work for the Starlight organization after she is married. This charity grants wishes to children who are very ill. Kate will help many children with her work with this group. It will be good to see the newest of the royals use her position to help others.

William has also recently mentioned wanting to start a family. So Kate may be quite busy rearing children once William is with her more often when they marry.

The Future of England

Does the royal family hold much sway in England any more? Opinions differ wildly on this point. The population certainly is changing rapidly in England. Many more members of the nation were not born there and thus may not have as much interest in the royal family as prior generations.

Also there is now much mumbling about how much money William and Kate's wedding will cost the nation. It is not really a time for an elaborate wedding, due to the economy. It will be interesting to see how Kate and William put together a wedding that not only holds to traditions but speaks to the modern time too, when royalty is not as popular as it used to be and lavish spending is deemed inappropriate.

Sources:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8153299/Royal-wedding-Prince-William-to-marry-Kate-Middleton-on-Friday-April-29-2011.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1332288/Kate-Middleton-Prince-Williams-Royal-wedding-date-set-spring.html