Trees to the big day! Workmen create Kate's indoor forest at the Abbey as bride and her sister leave home, possibly for the last time

By Daily Mail Reporter


She's leaving home: Kate Middleton takes the wheel as she leaves her Berkshire family home with sister Pippa alongside her


As Kate Middleton left her family home this afternoon, in what may be the last time she will visit her homestead before her big day, gardeners were spotted preparing trees for Friday's Royal Wedding.

While Prince William's wife-to-be wheeled away from her Berkshire home alongside sister Pippa workers unloaded trees at Westminster Abbey.

With only three days to go before the Royal Wedding at Westminster Abbey the 29-year-old might never return to her parents' house as Catherine Middleton - but these gardeners will do their best to create her perfect indoor forest for Friday.

On the move: Kate looked relaxed with only three days to go until her big day at Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace


Kate was heading to London for final preparations before the nuptials on Friday, which will be watched by millions around the globe.

The bride-to-be has ordered more than four tons of foliage - including eight 20ft-high trees - to recreate a lavish English country garden inside Westminster Abbey.

Under the guidance of her so-called ‘floral designer’, Shane Connolly, half a dozen English Field Maples have been installed in the historic church to create a ‘Living Avenue’ under which guests will walk to their seats.

Heave: Three gardeners lift a tree at Westminster Abbey while another worker wheels in a flowering plant

Tree's a crowd: Gardeners deliver trees to Westminster Abbey for Friday's Royal Wedding


Each of the trees have been placed in a planter personally designed by Mr Connolly and hand-crafted by artisans on the Prince of Wales’s Highgrove estate.

The entire scheme is believed to have cost up to £50,000 – not quite the ‘austerity’ wedding St James’s Palace originally had in mind.

According to royal sources, the idea was suggested by Mr Connolly as a way of mirroring the Abbey’s famous arches.

Kate fell in love with his suggestion but agreed on the environmentally-friendly proviso that the trees were seasonal and could be re-planted.

Knock, knock, coming in: A fork-lift truck helps manoeuvre a maple tree into Westminster Abbey

Standing tall: A group of gardeners prepare to move a tall tree into Westminster Abbey

Bloomin' marvellous: Two gardeners wheel another tree into Westminster Abbey


Meanwhile Kate's fiancé, who had spent Easter Sunday with his future in-laws, was spotted leaving the Middleton’s family home earlier today.

William has been eager to spend as much time as possible with his future bride’s family before his hectic pre-wedding rehearsals tie him up for the rest of the week.

So he decided to pop in once more ahead of his Friday wedding with Kate and was spotted driving off after the visit.

On Sunday, a fleet of three Royal Protection Squad cars accompanied William as he pulled up into the driveway of the family’s Bucklebury mansion.

High trees in: Gardeners dip an English maple tree so it can fit through the entrance of Westminster


Say trees: Photographers snap away as more maple trees are wheeled in to the old abbey and workers get ready to set down the maple tree in order to make Kate's English country garden look perfect


Steady as she goes: Workers put up an English field Maple tree in preparation for the Royal wedding in Westminster Abbey

Living avenue: Bride-to-be Kate has ordered more than four tons of foliage - including eight 20ft-high trees - to recreate a lavish English country garden inside Westminster Abbey


He was there for a special Easter Sunday lunch with all the trimmings and arrived with a mystery brown package, which he personally delivered to his bride-to-be Kate Middleton.

Newsmen who gathered outside the Middletons' home speculated on whether it was a special wedding gift - or just a box of chocolate Easter eggs for Kate, her mother and sister.

Prince William was understood to have spent four hours with his future in-laws, enjoying the family lunch.

Smiling: Kate did not shy away from grinning at the waiting paparazzi

Prince William was spotted leaving Kate Middleton's family home in Berkshire today, for a quick visit before being tied up with wedding rehearsals


Sitting out of view in the offside rear passenger seat of a bullet-proof Range Rover, with two minders in the front and four others travelling in cars to the front and rear, the Prince was understood to have enjoyed his afternoon in the countryside.

Thames Valley Police officers had been sent to Bucklebury earlier in the morning, as part of the force's contract to provide protection to Kate when she is at home.

Security was beefed up several hours later, with the arrival of armed police and plain-clothed detectives from Scotland Yard's Royal Protection Squad and within 30 minutes Kate's groom-to-be had arrived.

Prince William and his bride-to-be Kate Middleton will be busy with wedding rehearsals and preparations for the rest of the week

Home sweet home: Security has been stepped up in the Thames Valley village of Bucklebury where Kate's family lives


The Middleton family and William, 28, were thought to have chatted animatedly over lunch, discussing everything from village preparations for the wedding to how
William and Kate would be feeling as they walked down the aisle together after the service at Westminster Abbey.

The mystery box was carried into the house but after that, its contents remained unknown.

The Prince, with two armed guards, left Bucklebury in a Range Rover at 4pm, leaving Kate, her mum Carole, dad Michael sister Pippa and brother James, to do the washing up.

Practice makes perfect: The London Chamber Orchestra, who will play at Westminster Abbey for the Royal Wedding service on Friday, were rehearsing at St John's Church

Flower power: The Middleton family's florist, Emma Sampson, shown at Windsor Great Park - where many of the flowers and plants for Westminster Abbey will be sourced - with Shane Connolly, the Royal Wedding florist

High fliers: RAF personnel practise during the lining rehearsal for the Royal Wedding at RAF Holton base at Buckinghamshire

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, was spotted leaving Jo Hansford hair salon in London's Mayfair just days before the big day


Royal protection officers sent from Buckingham Palace and Scotland Yard left the family home soon after, leaving officers from Thames Valley Police to keep guard near the front drive of the five-bedroom property for the rest of the day and night.

It was understood Kate was spending Easter Monday with her family less than a week before the Royal wedding on Friday, April 29.

An insider said: ‘Kate will be here (at her family home) until tomorrow, then she's gone for the rest of the week.’

A full music rehearsal will take place at the Abbey tomorrow, with a dress rehearsal for clergy and broadcasters on Thursday.

The Duchess of Cornwall was no doubt having a consultation to decide how to wear her hair for Friday's ceremony

The salon describes itself as 'the leading hair colour salon in the UK, specialising in the creation of perfect colour and styling'

All smiles: Chelsy Davy is spotted shopping in Chelsea ahead of Friday's Royal Wedding


At some stage the Prince and Miss Middleton are also expected to head to the venue for final preparations.

Meanwhile, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, was seen today leaving Jo Hansford Hairdressers in London’s Mayfair.

The salon describes itself as ‘the leading hair colour salon in the UK, specialising in the creation of perfect colour and styling’.

Camilla was no doubt making sure her bouffant was going to look perfect for the big day.

Royalists: Many Royal Wedding fans were covered cap-a-pie in Union Jacks - and some of the supporters were interviewed by the world media as they set up camp outside Westminster Abbey

Happy campers: A woman inflates her air bed as she sets up a tent outside Westminster Abbey as she awaits the Royal Wedding


As the excitement about the Royal Wedding increased, a number of die-hard Royalists set up camp outside Westminster Abbey.

Tents were pitched, sleeping airbags pumped up, and camping seats snapped upright as fans settled in for the wedding... three days before Kate and William are due at the famous London landmark.



source:dailymail

Royal Wedding: No Earl Spencer speech as 1,000 'very best friends' are given pride of place in the Abbey

By Katie Nicholl

Change of plan: It's thought that Prince William and Kate had originally wanted Earl Spencer to give a speech at the ceremony, as he did at Princess Diana's funeral (above right), but perhaps they remembered that he controversially used the occasion to attack the way he believed the Royal Family treated his sister


The Very Best Friends of William and Kate as well as members of the Middleton family and their guests will take pride of place at the Abbey.

But William’s uncle Charles Spencer, who had been expected to deliver an address during the service, will now have no formal role, Palace aides have confirmed.

More than 1,000 of the 1,900 in the congregation will be friends – who have been given the best seats.


The couple’s immediate families and VBFs from St Andrews University, where they met, will have the best view. Close to 500 of them will be seated in the North Lantern and the North and South Transepts and Stalls, which have unobscured views of the Sacrarium where the couple will exchange their vows.

While protocol has dictated that members of Foreign Royal Families and Crowned Heads will be seated next to the Royal Family in the South Lantern, the couple’s friends are spread out.

All the VBFs will have seats towards the top of the Abbey. And many will be seated in the North and South Stalls which have also been reserved for representatives of the Church and members of the Cabinet.

Meanwhile Princess Diana’s brother Earl Spencer and his fiancee, Canadian charity worker Karen Gordon, will be seated away from the Royal Family on the other side of the aisle. They will sit behind the Middletons, along with Princess Diana’s sisters Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes. Diana’s aunt Lady Anne Wake-Walker will also with the Spencers.

A Palace aide said: ‘The couple have worked tirelessly to get the seating plans just right. They have done all the hard work and I can tell you it has taken months.’

It will take Kate’s father Michael nearly four minutes to walk her down the aisle. His wife Carole will be opposite the Queen, who will be seated next to Prince Philip, then Charles, Camilla and Harry. In the row behind will be Prince Andrew, Beatrice and Eugenie, Prince Edward and Sophie, Princess Anne and her husband Vice-Admiral Timothy Laurence. Mr Middleton will sit by his son James, opposite Prince Philip.

Kate’s sister and maid-of-honour Pippa will also have a place with her family, together with her long-term boyfriend, former cricketer Alex Loudon.

Prince Charles’s personal friends, totalling more than 250, have been demoted to the North Nave where their view will be obscured by a giant organ screen which divides the Abbey in two. Seats have been reserved for Camilla’s family members including Tom Parker Bowles and his wife Sara Buys, Laura Parker Bowles and her husband Harry Lopes. Their daughter Eliza is a bridesmaid and Laura will be sitting close to the aisle in case she needs to rescue her three-year-old.

Also in the VIP rows will be William’s friend Harry Meade and his wife Rosie Bradford, Harry Meade’s brother James, known as ‘Badger’, and many members of William’s Glosse Posse set including Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs, daughter of the Marquess of Reading, William’s best friend Guy Pelly, polo players Luke and Mark Tomlinson, Thomas van Straubenzee, who is understood to be helping with Harry’s best man’s speech, and Tom and Victoria Inskip, two of William’s best friends from Wiltshire.

William’s private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, who has helped plan the wedding, and his wife Susannah have also been given a key spot in the North Transept – their son Billy is a page boy.

Also invited is William’s former nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke, whose son Tom is a page boy.


Abbey days: All the 'very best friends' will have seats towards the top of the Abbey, while Prince Charles's personal friends, more than 250 of them in total, have been demoted to the North Nave


William has invited 80 guests from his charities, who will be seated in the general congregation. When Charles married Diana in 1981, 3,500 people packed into St Paul’s Cathedral but the bride and groom were allowed to invite only 120 of their friends.

The Mail on Sunday has been told that Camilla was allowed to go through the guest list with a red pen and several names were crossed out. Among them were Lady Annabel Goldsmith and Princess Diana’s best friend Rosa Monkton, who are both said to be ‘rather upset’. Lady Annabel was exceptionally close to Diana, William and Harry when they were growing up and they were regular house guests at Ormeley Lodge, Lady Annabel’s home in Richmond, West London.

A source close to the Goldsmith family said: ‘Annabel and Rosa feel they have been deliberately snubbed because they were so close to Diana. It’s a shame, they were both a part of William’s life when he was younger.’ Rosa Monkton has written extensively about the hurt Camilla caused Diana during her marriage to Charles.

The most awkward encounter of Camilla’s life took place at the home of Lady Annabel when Diana confronted Camilla at a birthday party.

Charles’s first girlfriend Lucia Santa Cruz, daughter of the former Chilean ambassador, will be at Friday’s wedding.

Cabinet cough up just £35 each for gift

Cabinet Ministers were accused of being mean yesterday after they gave just £35 each towards a collective ‘wedding present’ for Prince William and Kate Middleton.

The 23 Ministers, who each earn about £135,000 a year, received letters from Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell telling them £35 was ‘an appropriate sum’.

They raised £805 for the couple’s wedding charity, which supports 26 charities chosen by them. The uniform sum and the decision to give it to charity was agreed by Sir Gus and David Cameron after fears it would be embarrassing if some bought lavish gifts while others gave nothing.

The decision was approved after a Cabinet discussion. Ministers then privately agreed they would all give exactly £35 to avoid one-upmanship. One said: ‘You can imagine the kind of media frenzy there would be if everyone gave different amounts.

It may not be very romantic but it is best if we all do the same.’

Labour MP Tom Watson said: ‘Most people will think £35 is pretty mean-minded coming from well-paid Ministers who can afford to give a lot more, especially when it is going to such good causes. You would raise more money at a jumble sale.’ Nick Clegg and Mr Cameron will also buy the Royal couple separate presents.

Tailsgate: Red Ed’s off to Moss BrosEd

Miliband will hire his morning suit for the Royal Wedding from Moss Bros.

The Labour leader, who doesn’t own morning dress, made the decision after Downing Street announced that the Prime Minister would, after all, wear the traditional attire.

Last weekend, aides to the Labour leader told The Mail on Sunday that he – like the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister – was intending to wear a lounge suit.

But once Mr Cameron announced on Wednesday that he was instead going to sport morning dress, Mr Miliband concluded that he should do the same. He decided that wearing a lounge suit would be seen as a statement and that nothing should detract from Prince William and Kate Middleton’s big day.

He will be able to hire a morning coat and trousers for £55 from the outfitting chain.

A waistcoat will cost him an extra £12.

He does not, though, plan to wear morning dress to his own wedding to his partner Justine Thornton, which is on May 27.

Who spelt Eton wrong?

There was one howler in the wedding guest list.

One of the guests, Dr Andrew Gailey, was described as Prince William’s housemaster at ‘Eaton’ rather than Eton College.

A Clarence House spokesman described it as a typographical error but declined to unmask the culprit.

Meanwhile, Eton pupils are planning a protest after the school announced it has no plans to celebrate the Royal Wedding.

Boys at the £9,995-a-term school, who will return from their month-long Easter holiday on Wednesday, are upset they must attend lessons while the rest of the country has the day off.

The 1,300 pupils’ only time off will be to watch the service at 11am in their boarding houses before resuming their normal timetable.


source:dailymail