Live coverage of the Royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton which will take place at Westminster Abbey on April 29.
11.08 Er, how odd. Apparently Kate Middleton is to do a Mumsnet live chat this afternoon at 1pm. We'll keep an eye on it, naturally. I suppose that Gordon Brown wasn't a mum either when he did his own live chat on the website, otherwise I'd start wondering whether this was a royal shotgun wedding.
11.03 A gambler is in with a chance of winning £72,000 if Kate Middleton wears the Queen's wedding tiara, a diamond-encrusted headpiece known as the Russian Fringe Tiara, for her wedding. It's 180 years old and was also a favourite of Queen Victoria, apparently. Miss Middleton will presumably avoid nodding too violently while she's wearing it.
10.54 Cutting Off Nose to Spite Face Dept: the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) has said that it will refuse to take a day's holiday on Friday, because it has a policy of abolishing the monarchy.
RMT has a clear national policy supporting the abolition of the monarchy and so, on the day of the royal wedding, our head office will remain open for business as usual.
10.49 We have a name for the ultra-keen Royalist camped out outside Westminster Abbey. The Press Association says it is one John Loughrey, 56, "one of the most seasoned royal fans in Britain":
Mr Loughrey was the first to arrive last night with only a sleeping bag and two carrier bags at the start of a week-long vigil to ensure a prime position for the event.
He was dressed in a Kate and William T-shirt, emblazoned with the words "Diana Would Be Proud" with the images of Kate and William tied round his waist and a Union flag hat.
The former assistant chef, from Wandsworth, south west London, a self-confessed "super fan" of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, said he planned to stay in his position until Saturday.
"I have always been loyal to the Royal Family," he said.
"I think they are good for Britain and good for tourism. We have had them for more than 1,000 years and they make a great contribution to the life of this country."
10.18 The Telegraph's peerless Matt has captured the mood effortlessly, as ever:
10.12 Lady Antonia Fraser, who was among the crowds at Princess Elizabeth's wedding to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten in 1947, recalls the euphoria of the crowds outside Buckingham Palace at Princess Elizabeth's post-war wedding:
"Into this severe, dutiful world came a real-life fairy story. The bride was a princess but she had dressed up as a soldier in the war, an ordinary ATS uniform being the modern equivalent of a goose girl's get-up. The bridegroom, tall, fair and handsome, was a sailor and a commoner, but he too was a prince in disguise, of royal stock.
10.04 Allison Pearson thinks that Kate Middleton will bring a "refreshing informality" to the Royal family with her "sensible, steely but warm-hearted" nature:
"Here is a modern woman, who, like Diana, Princess of Wales, is known for her kind heart and love of dancing, wears £40 polka-dot dresses from Topshop, and found herself auditioning for a role in a cantankerous institution that still runs according to rules that would make Queen Victoria feel at ease. Only Jane Austen would have guessed that the perfect person for the role would turn out to be a Miss Catherine Middleton of Bucklebury, Berkshire.
09.37 It may come as a surprise, by the way, that there is already a royal wedding movie. The made-for-TV film William and Kate - the Movie was shown yesterday on Channel 5. It will come as less of a surprise, possibly, that it's not very good - our own Neil Midgley says:
"It would have been no surprise to see Diana Dors pop out in full Hammer Horror costume. While this movie was ‘based on true events’, it certainly wasn’t based on true hairdos or soft furnishings."
09.18 And you should probably pack an umbrella for Friday. We report that heavy rain is forecast for the big day.
09.16 Peter Oborne, the Telegraph's chief political commentator, writes in praise of the "quiet wisdom" of the Windsors:
"There have been moments of difficulty, of which the abdication crisis in 1936 and the popular convulsion which followed the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997 have proved the most threatening. But the monarchy has pulled through – and it has rarely looked stronger than this week, as we approach the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton."
09.07 We're running a special royal wedding supplement today in the paper. Patrick Jephson, a former equerry and private secretary to HRH the Princess of Wales, writes that after the drama of William's parents' marriage, now is the time to show that the next generation has learned the value of calm predictability.
09.02 It might feel to you as though we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here, but at least one ardent Royalist would disagree with you: the first spectator has bagged their spot outside Westminster Abbey already. Thanks to @WilliamsJon on Twitter for this splendid pic.
09.00 Morning, and welcome to the first day of the Telegraph's live coverage of the royal wedding between Prince William and Catherine ("Kate") Middleton.
We'll keep you up to date with all the stories as they happen. as well as showcasing the best of the Telegraph's coverage from the paper and online, until the big day itself, Friday April 29.
First, here are a few more practical pointers about what goes on on the day.
