The Royal Wedding
Prince William & Catherine Middleton
The wedding of Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton is scheduled to take place at Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011. William, who is second in the line of succession to Queen Elizabeth II, first met Middleton in 2001, while he and Middleton were studying at the University of St Andrews. Their engagement, on 20 October 2010, was announced on 16 November 2010. After the wedding, the couple intend to continue residing on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales, where Prince William is based as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot.
On 23 November 2010, Clarence House announced the date for the wedding as 29 April 2011 and the venue as Westminster Abbey,a Royal Peculiar founded in AD 960.Although the abbey has been the traditional location for coronations since 1066, it has only recently been the church of choice for royal weddings; prior to 1918, most royal weddings took place in the royal chapels such as the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace and St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.The abbey, which has a usual seating capacity of 2000, has been the venue for recent royal weddings, including those of Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) to Prince Philip (1947), Princess Margaret to Anthony Armstrong-Jones (1960), Princess Anne to Mark Phillips (1973), and Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson (1986).
It was also announced that the costs of the wedding itself will be met by the Royal Family and the Middletons themselves, while the costs of security and transport will be covered by the British treasury.The couple have also asked that donations be made to charities in place of traditional wedding gifts; to that end, they established The Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton Charitable Gift Fund, which focuses on assisting charities such as the New Zealand Christchurch Earthquake Appeal, the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and the Zoological Society of London.
TimingsFrom 8.15 am, the main congregation, Governors-General, Prime Ministers of realm countries and the Diplomatic Corps will all arrive at the Abbey. Prince William and Harry are then due to arrive by 10.15 am. Further arrivals in turn will then consist of foreign royals, followed by the Middleton family, and lastly the Prince’s family (The Princess Royal, The Duke of York, Princess Beatrice of York, Princess Eugenie of York, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall). As is tradition, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will be the last members of the royal family to leave Buckingham Palace, arriving at the Abbey for 10.45 am. The bridal party will then leave the Goring Hotel in time for the service to begin at 11 am. The service is to finish at 12.15 pm, after which the newly married couple will travel to Buckingham Palace in a procession consisting of other royal family members, the parents of both the groom and bride, the best man, and the bridesmaids. At 1.25 pm, the couple will appear at the Buckingham Palace Balcony to watch the fly past consisting of Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight followed by two Typhoons and two Tornado GR4s.
Floral Displays in the Abbey and Buckingham Palace
Prince William and Miss Middleton have chosen London-based floral designer Shane Connolly to create the floral displays for their wedding on April 29th. Mr. Connolly has directed a team of florists, including Westminster Abbey's and Buckingham Palace's florists, and florists individually chosen by the Couple, to create the floral displays at the Abbey and for Buckingham Palace.
Mr. Connolly was chosen by the Couple owing to his reputation for producing elegant and unique displays, and for his creative approach which focuses on using seasonal, natural and organic flowers. Mr. Connolly is also well known for his sustainable approach to floristry, which incorporates as much as possible the use of growing, rather than cut, plants and trees.
The Couple have taken a close interest in the designs, which follows a theme that pays tribute to the Language of Flowers.
The floral displays in Westminster Abbey feature a variety of seasonal growing and cut British flowers and trees sourced from Royal Estates and other growers around the country. The flowers and plants include blossoms, azaleas, rhododendron, euphorbias, beech, wisteria and lilac.
The floral displays in the Abbey will include eight 20 feet-high trees: six English Field Maple and two Hornbeam. All the trees will be growing in planters, which have also been designed by Mr. Connolly and which were made by craftsmen at Highgrove, The Prince of Wales's Residence in Gloucestershire.
After the wedding, the flowers and plants will be left in position in Westminster Abbey for the public to view until Friday 6th May 2011. Following this, many of the trees will be taken to Highgrove Gardens, where they will be planted. The Couple's intention is that many of the cut plants and flowers and all the growing plants will be donated to charities or re-planted.
Music for the Wedding Service
Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton are pleased to announce the music for their Wedding Service. The music has a largely British theme. The Couple have put considerable thought into selecting the music, and their choices blend traditional music with some newly commissioned pieces.
Before the Service
The music before the Service will begin with a selection of organ pieces: Fantasia in G (Pièce d’orgue à 5) by Johann Sebastian Bach, followed by Veni Creator Spiritus by the Master of The Queen’s Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies; Prelude on St. Columba Op. 28 by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sonata for Organ Op. 28 (Allegro maestoso and Allegretto) by Edward Elgar.
Following this will be seven orchestral pieces:
Serenade for Strings in E minor Op. 20 (Allegro piacevole, Larghetto and Allegretto) by Edward Elgar
Courtly Dance V: Galliard from Gloriana (Symphonic Suite) Op. 53a no. 7 by Benjamin Britten
Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Farewell to Stromness by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring by Frederick Delius
Touch Her Soft Lips and Part from Henry V Suite by William Walton
Romance for String Orchestra Op. 11 by Gerald Finzi
Three of these pieces – Farewell to Stromness, Touch Her Soft Lips and Part and Romance for String Orchestra Op. 11 – were played at the Service of Prayer and Dedication for The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2005. The Couple specifically chose these pieces for that reason. The final piece of music before the Service begins continues the broadly British theme: Canzona from Organ Sonata in C minor by Percy Whitlock.
Processional Music
The Service will begin with a Fanfare by The State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry to mark the arrival of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. The Fanfare will be followed by three Processionals. For the Procession of The Queen, Prince William and Miss Middleton have chosen March from The Birds by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry. Prelude on Rhosymedre by Ralph Vaughan Williams will accompany the Procession of the Clergy, and was chosen for its Welsh echoes. The Couple have selected ‘I was Glad’, also by Parry, for the Procession of the Bride.
Hymns
Prince William and Miss Middleton have chosen three hymns for the Service: ‘Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer’, words by William Williams, translated by Peter Williams and others, and music by John Hughes. The second will be ‘Love Divine All Love Excelling’, words by Charles Wesley and music by William Penfro Rowlands. The third will be ‘Jerusalem’, by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, words by William Blake. All three hymns have been chosen because they are favourites of the Couple.
The Anthem and Motet
The Anthem, ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made’, has been composed specially for the occasion by John Rutter. It was commissioned by Westminster Abbey as a wedding present for Prince William and Miss Middleton and will be performed by both the Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal Choir. Mr. Rutter is a British composer, conductor, editor and arranger who specialises in choral music.
The Anthem will be followed by the Motet ‘Ubi caritas’ by Paul Mealor, a Welsh composer, who is currently Reader in Composition at The University of Aberdeen.
Mr. Mealor’s composing studio is on the Isle of Anglesey, where Prince William and Miss Middleton live. This version of ‘Ubi caritas’ was written on Anglesey and premiered at the University of St. Andrews in November 2010.
The National Anthem will be sung immediately before the Signing of the Registers.
The Signing of the Registers and the Recessional
During the Signing of the Registers, the choirs will sing ‘Blest pair of Sirens’, words by John Milton from At a Solemn Musick, music by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry.
Following the Signing, there will be a Fanfare by the Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force. The Fanfare, called Valiant and Brave, after the motto of No. 22 Squadron (Search and Rescue Force) was specially composed for this Service by Wing Commander Duncan Stubbs, Principal Director of Music in the Royal Air Force.
The Recessional, for the Procession of the Bride and Bridegroom, will be Crown Imperial by William Walton. Toccata from Symphonie V by Charles-Marie Widor and Pomp and Circumstance March no. 5 by Edward Elgar will follow the Service.
The Royal Wedding
Prince William & Catherine Middleton
