Kate Middleton and Prince William's Royal Wedding Schedule
Palace announces times and details for royal couple's big day.
April 15, 2011 -- As the royal wedding day, now just two weeks away, creeps closer, more details on how the events of the day will take place are coming into focus. The following wedding day timings were confirmed by the Palace on Friday.
Beginning at 8:15 a.m., London time (3:15 a.m. in the Eastern United States), general guests will start showing up at Westminster Abbey. Arrivals are expected to take approximately an hour and a half, as guests will come by foot and car, and then enter the church through the Great North Door. But don't expect to see any photographs once they get inside; guests have been told cellphones and cameras are not allowed in the Abbey.
Guaranteed to make it to the church on time, Groom Prince William and his Best Man, Prince Harry, will depart Clarence House at 10:10 a.m. Their drive to the Abbey will only take five minutes.
Members of foreign royal families will arrive at the church at 10:20 a.m.
Also at 10:20 a.m., Mother of the Bride, Carole Middleton, and James Middleton, brother of the bride, will depart the Goring Hotel. The Palace announced that Catherine Middleton, and members of her family, would be staying at the Goring. The bride, along with her sister and mother will be staying in one of the hotel's premiere suites. It will take seven minutes for Carole and James to travel from the hotel to Westminster Abbey.
At 10:40 a.m., the members of the royal family will begin to pour in. Uncle to the Groom, Prince Andrew, and his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie; Aunt to the groom, Princess Anne, and her husband; and Aunt and Uncle to the Groom the Earl and Countess of Wessex will all enter the front of the church through the Great West door.
Prince Charles and William's stepmother, Camilla, arrive at 10:42 a.m. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are the last guests to arrive at Westminster Abbey, at 10:45 a.m.
All of Kate's bridesmaids and William's pageboys will gather at the Goring Hotel to depart at 10:48 a.m. The wedding party will arrive at the church five minutes before the ceremony is to begin.
Tick-Tock of Will and Kate's Wedding Day
At 10:51 a.m., Catherine Middleton, accompanied by her father, will depart the Goring Hotel in a Rolls Royce and make her way to Westminster Abbey. Once she arrives at the church, details about her wedding dress will finally be revealed. A press release, including the wedding dress designer's name and sketches and photographs of the dress, will not be sent out until then.
The ceremony, which will start at 11 a.m., is to last just over an hour and will include vows and a sermon delivered by the Bishop of London, private clergyman to the queen. The bells of Westminster Abbey will ring as Prince William and his new wife depart the church.
At 12:15 p.m., the Prince and the new Princess Catherine will go from the church to Buckingham Palace. The carriage carrying the bride and groom will be followed by the Queen's carriage and members of the Household Cavalry. Two of the horses taking part in the ceremony are named after William and Catherine. The procession will pass by some of London's most well-known landmarks, including the Queen Victoria monument, The Mall, and the Houses of Parliament.
Once the royal couple arrives at Buckingham Palace at 12:30 p.m., they will pose for their official wedding photos. But those private moments between Will, Kate, their families and their bridal party will remain private. The palace staff says they "hope" to release some photographs the following morning.
At 1:25 p.m., the married couple will reappear on the balcony at Buckingham Palace with the Queen and their families for 10 minutes. We can only hope they will follow the example of William's parents and mark the occasion with a public kiss. The Royal Air Force, where Prince William serves as a search-and-rescue pilot, will perform a flyover at 1:30 p.m.
Next, Prince William and Kate will head inside Buckingham Palace to the afternoon reception hosted by the Queen. After that, husband and wife will drive to St. James Palace for some down time.
The 7 p.m. evening party is expected to be much more fun, relaxed, and most important, private. No pictures from the event are expected to be released. Speeches, including the one given by the Best Man, Prince Harry, will be delivered at this reception. This is the one moment of Prince William and Kate's day that is not planned to the second. The palace says the party will "finish when it finishes."