Kate's Wedding Dress Goes on Display!(Photo)

There's a new headliner at the Palace: the Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress.

The ivory and white satin-gazar dress by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen is the centerpiece of the annual summer opening of Buckingham Palace tours for the public.

Starting Saturday, about 643,000 tickets become available – and given the 107-percent increase in sales over last year, when 413,000 visitors went on tour, insiders expect box-office records to be broken. 

On Friday, Kate, 29, and the Queen, 85, will tour the exhibit. 

Kate was instrumental in the decision to put the dress on display in the royal residence, where it stands under lights on a special platform in the Ballroom. Visitors are permitted within a few feet of the creation, which is topped-off with the Cartier "Halo" tiara that the Queen loaned the bride on the April 29 wedding day. 

Tours, which run until Oct. 3, cost $28.50 and include 19 state rooms, a special Royal Fabrege exhibit and a walk in the south side of the garden. Further details are available at The Royal Collection. 

"Visitors will see what a great example of British couture it is," exhibition curator Caroline de Guitaut says of the wedding dress. "And how much detail and how much work went into the creation of this dress. The beauty really is in the detail." 

In rooms where the wedding celebrations occurred are now showcases of the handcrafted bridal shoes by the team at Alexander McQueen (size 8, with three-inch heels) and a replica of Kate's bridal bouquet fashioned in silk flowers by the wedding florist Shane Connolly. There's also a film about the creation of the dress, featuring Sarah Burton. 

In the state dining room is the tiered wedding cake. With the first cut, from Prince William's sword, still visible on its base, the cake is almost exactly as it was on April 29. 

The top three tiers, however, have been replaced with replicas by baker Fiona Cairns, as the couple have held on to the top two tiers, keeping with the tradition of saving some to serve at a first child's christening. 

The third section was eaten on the big day.

Queen fetes Obamas amid pomp of Buckingham Palace

LONDON — President Barack Obama will outline in a speech today how much the world has changed since the U.S.-British partnership emerged victorious from World War II, but also argue that the relationship remains the cornerstone of global security.

The theme, outlined by administration officials here Tuesday, is part celebration of the military partnership, which has waged war in three Muslim nations over the past decade, and part reassurance that the heavy cost has been essential.

Obama will deliver the address, characterized by advisers as "the anchor speech" of his six-day European trip, to the British Parliament at Westminster Hall, becoming the first American leader to do so in that historic venue.

"He'll speak to the fact that we've obviously come through a very difficult decade, but in some respects we're turning a corner," Ben Rhodes, a U.S. deputy national security adviser, told reporters.

His address at Westminster Hall will be the most substantive event of the trip so far after a start heavy with ceremony.

On Tuesday, Queen Elizabeth II welcomed Obama and the first lady, Michelle Obama, for his first state visit here. The official greeting took place just before noon at Buckingham Palace.

America's first couple walked up the red carpet to the palace door, where the queen, her ubiquitous handbag in the crook of her arm, greeted them with a handshake and smile. Prince Philip stood by her side.

The Obamas' gift to the queen was a handmade, leather-bound album containing original photographs of the June 1939 visit to the United States of her parents, King George VI and his consort Elizabeth, known more recently as the queen mother.

Inside the palace, the Obamas also met with Prince William and new wife Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Many lined the streets and gathered outside the Obamas' tour sites on a warm and clear afternoon.

The Obamas visited Westminster Abbey and laid a wreath at a tomb in memory of "the unknown warrior." Obama wrote in the guest book, "It is a great privilege to commemorate our common heritage and common sacrifice," but added the wrong date, "24 May 2008."

Obama also paid a courtesy call at 10 Downing Street to see Prime Minister David Cameron, with whom he will hold more extensive meetings today.

The evening ended with a state dinner at Buckingham Palace, where Obama, in white tie and tails, toasted the alliance as "a commitment that speaks to who we are."

Royal Wedding: US embraces Anglophilia

Brits here have been besieged with questions about details of the wedding. I have fielded questions on every aspect of British Royal culture for weeks. American news networks, all covering the event live, have been scrambling for British journalists to go on their shows and explain it all, in their best BBC English accent, of course.

“Is she allowed to be smiling that much?” asked my American friend watching from Milwaukee. She is on a business trip, but both she and her husband here in New York got up yesterday morning at 5am to watch the wedding live.

“Even I, a Yank, get chills during God Save the Queen”, another friend said. It would have been nice if

Buckingham Palace had posted copies of the program online we could download them and follow along, he added.

“I love Jerusalem,” said an American friend watching with me in New York. “It’s a lovely song, very evocative.”

Another American said of Catherine Middleton’s dress: “Divine, the most sublime and elegant and pristine wedding dress ever. Alexander McQueen would be proud. [Sarah Burton] you deserve all the accolades - you have set a new and formidable standard for brides around the world.”

“How could anyone not watch it?” said Amina Akhtar an American fashion editor also up at 6am to watch Catherine Middleton arrive at Westminster Abbey. “American, British - it doesn't matter where you live, this was a wonderful moment for everyone. It was such a historic occasion and we get to see a happy couple get married and a new Princess looking simply stunning.

“Of course, I had to watch to see the dress. Her choice of Alexander McQueen was perfect’ very reminiscent of Grace Kelly and Queen Elizabeth I's wedding dresses. There's been a huge fascination with Royals in the United States, and the wedding intensified it. We love a good fairytale and that's exactly how this felt.”

At Tea & Sympathy, the British restaurant in Greenwich Village and Lyon the French restaurant next door, there was a live screening starting at 6am and a Royal wedding street party complete with $1,800 worth of bunting.

At 7am there were television news vans outside the restaurants and a helicopter circling above.

Nicky Perry was wearing a floor-length Union Jack coat and a St George’s flag dress underneath. “It’s very exciting all this, isn’t it? It’s wild. Everyone is really dressed up; and they keep coming up to me, telling me ‘Congratulations’ like it’s my bloody wedding!”

The whole block has been decked out in red, white and blue and every shop is displaying a Union Jack in honour of the Royal couple. Everyone was dressed to the nines, with little girls in princess dresses, men in bowler hats, silk ties and suits and women in feather fascinators.

The Consul General Sir Alan Colllins would be arriving at 1:30pm in a Bentley for lunch, said Perry. And his wife, Lady Collins would appear at 3pm because she wants her photograph taken with The Pearly King and Queen.

By 8am, Lyon, hosting the screening, was packed and the owners had to turn people away. There was a crowd watching the live feed through the windows. One woman had dressed her Dachshund in a crown.

Perry’s husband, Sean, was dressed as a Pearly King suit with a Union Jack tie.

“We are ready to party all day long,” said Perry.

Royal wedding radio review

What did I get from the radio that wasn't on television? Radio 5 Live (from 6.00 a.m.) had a Cornish grower of lilies of the valley who wanted to know where all the stems he'd delivered to the Goring Hotel had gone.

Bookmaker Paddy Power, personally, gave odds of 500 to 1 on a streaker interrupting the wedding procession. Shelagh Fogarty (at the Abbey) thought the bride would wear her hair up, Nicky Campbell (outside Buckingham Palace) hoped she wouldn't.

Chris Evans (Radio 2, 8.00 a.m) had a street party “a sniff away” from the Palace. It didn't stop him roaring “How good is that?” at frequent intervals and playing truly tacky wedding-type records throughout.

On Radio 4's Today, cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew said he wasn't scared at being on Radio 4's commentary team because “It's just saying what we see, which is what we do at Lords.” Actually, it's a bit harder.

That all-star Radio 4 team, (on duty from 10.00 a.m.) proved that women - Wendy Austin, Anita Anand, Eleanor Oldroyd and Jane Garvey - are miles better than men at talking to people and noticing weddingy things like colours, hats and fabrics

The big disappointment was Edward Stourton, sole commentator inside Westminster Abbey. Whether he was overwhelmed by the occasion or assumed we were looking at it on television, he seemed lost for the words.

So I turned on the TV but listened to the radio, (hard to do as radio was a few seconds ahead of the pictures.) I'm glad I did. Ed didn't mention the little wiggle Prince William gave the ring as he put it on his bride's finger, or the Queen's sudden look down as if surprised by tears at the Bishop of London's address.

And no one at all mentioned the lilies of the valley in the bride's brother's buttonhole"And no one had words words to match the pictures that said how happy, how really and truly happy, our new Duke and Duchess looked."

Royal wedding facts and figures

An estimated 2billion people in more than 180 countries around the world were expected to see reports, photos and TV pictures of the royal wedding, which was covered by more than 8,500 journalists in London alone.

:: Facebook calculated that 2.8million people in Britain and America alone had written status updates about the royal wedding in the 24 hours before the service began.

:: In the build-up to the service, Twitter users were posting 237 tweets every second about the royal wedding

:: An estimated 1,000 miles of bunting was sold to mark the wedding, much of it being used to decorate the 5,000 street parties taking place across Britain.

::

About 1,900 people were invited to the service at Westminster Abbey, most of whom were drawn from the couple’s relatives and friends along with 50 members of the Royal family, 40 members of foreign royalty, 200 politicians and diplomats and 80 guests from the Prince’s charities.

Kate Middleton arrived at the Abbey in a Rolls Royce Phantom VI, which had been presented to the Queen for her silver jubilee while Prince William travelled in a specially designed 20.4ft (6.22m) long Bentley.

:: The train of Kate Middleton’s dress measured 8ft 8ins (2m 70cm), while the red carpet laid from the Great West Gate to the Sacrarium in the Abbey was 300ft long.

:: As well as flowers from Windsor Great Park and the Sandringham Estate, Westminster Abbey was decorated by Shane Connolly with eight 20ft-high trees, six English Field Maples and two Hornbeams.

:: Music at the service was performed by the Choir of Westminster Abbey, the Choir of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal, the London Chamber Orchestra, the Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the RAF and the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry.

:: Three of the pieces of music played before the service were also heard at the Prince of Wales’s second marriage in 2005.

:: The couple chose a traditional Church of England liturgy from the 1928 prayer book, known as the Series One form of solemnization of matrimony, but Kate Middleton did not say she would “obey” her husband in her vows.

:: Following the service, the 10 bells of the 1,000 year-old Abbey were rung in a “full peal” lasting more than three hours, in which no sequence of sounds is repeated.

:: 150,000 copies of the Official Programme were being sold by Explorer Scouts and Cadets in central London at £2 each, but it was also available to download as a PDF from Apple’s iBookstore.

:: At 1.30pm a flypast was scheduled to take place consisting of a Lancaster, a Spitfire and a Hurricane as well as two Tornado and two Typhoon fast jets.

:: In total about 5,000 Met officers were due to police the royal wedding including 900 lining the route of the procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace. By midday at least 18 people in central London had been arrested for offences ranging from breach of the peace to possession of an offensive weapon.

Royal couple to share balcony kiss on wedding day

IT IS the “will they, won’t they?” question hanging over the royal wedding. Prince William and Kate Middleton have seldom appeared intimate in public, leading many to query whether they would forgo the tradition of a post-wedding kiss in front of expectant crowds.

But the couple will not disappoint on April 29, with royal sources indicating that they will share a kiss from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after their wedding in Westminster Abbey.

The “balcony kiss” is among the most memorable images from the wedding of the Prince’s parents, the Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1981, and began a tradition.

The Duke and Duchess of York also kissed for the crowds at their wedding in 1986.

A royal aide said: “Prince William and Catherine know the form and have seen the photographs. I doubt well-wishers will be disappointed.”

The couple’s appearance on the balcony will be the highlight of the wedding, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to line the Mall to greet the newly-weds and a fly-past scheduled to salute the couple.

The couple have been preparing for their wedding by receiving advice on the challenges of married life from the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, who will give the address at their wedding.

In a series of meetings, Bishop Chartres has been counselling them on how to cope with the pressure of building a family in the glare of public scrutiny. The couple are also believed to have discussed the impact their upbringings have had on them and how their roles would change as parents.

“I understand the time together has been going very well,” said a Church insider. “The Prince trusts Richard as he knows him well and knows how discreet he is.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who will perform the marriage ceremony, is understood to have been explaining to the couple the implications of the marriage vows they choose. Most couples having Church of England weddings are offered marriage preparation by their vicar.

The couple are determined not to have a “celebrity” wedding, even though guests will include Sir Elton John and David and Victoria Beckham. Guests at the Abbey and reception in Buckingham Palace will be allowed to keep their mobile phones but, in an attempt to prevent photographs of the celebrations reaching Twitter, will be asked to switch them off.

A royal source said: “There will be no gimmicks and no celebrities tinkling away on pianos at any stage. It will be a very traditional Anglican service.”

The Prince, 28, and Miss Middleton, 29, will move out of Clarence House, which they share with the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry, and will make either Buckingham Palace or Kensington Palace, the former residence of the Princess of Wales, their London home. The couple mainly live in Anglesey, north Wales, where the Prince is a search and rescue helicopter pilot.

An aide said: “They are keen to establish their own base away from Prince William’s family home. Catherine will move permanently to Anglesey, and they plan to live as a very low-profile couple.

“They will not be fully working royals, and as such, they will not be undertaking a raft of engagements or taking up a host of new patronages straight away. They want to keep things very low-key for the foreseeable future.”