Royal wedding trivia--and some funny stuff

--One of the flowers in the ladies' bouquets was "Sweet William", reputedly because it's to represent "gallantry".  The fact that it's also the groom's name helped that much more, for sure;


--Prince William's full, formal, Royal name is--hold on--His Royal Highness Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, Duke of Cambridge, Early of Strathearn, Baron Carrickfergus, Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Master of Arts.  Try saying that three times fast.


--The halo-style tiara that Kate wore was Cartier creation belonging to the Queen. King George bought it for the Queen Mother in 1936; the Queen Mother gave it to the Queen on her 18th birthday;


--The Middleton's--Kate's family--didn't have a coat of arms before, because they weren't members of the British aristocracy.  The horrors!


--Kate had Westminster Abbey loaded with trees:   Kate loves the outdoors and, according to the Daily Mail, she ordered more than four tons of foliage to create an English country garden setting inside Westminster Abbey, including pyramid-shaped ornamental Hornbeams to frame the choir and a "living avenue" of 20-foot-tall, 15-year-old English Field Maples through which guests walked to their seats. The cost? About 50,000 pounds, or $83,335.
Because, after all, what's a little money?


--The frowning little gril on the balcony while Kate and William were waving was  Prince William's goddaughter, 3-year-old Grace van Cutsem, who was one of the official bridesmaids (there are no "flower girl" roles in traditional British weddings, so children are often included as bridesmaids or pages). She is the daughter of Lady Rose Astor and Hugh van Cutsem, and great-great-great-granddaughter of William Waldorf Astor, a New York-born lawyer and politician who later became a member of the British Aristocracy. (The Waldorf Hotel was one of his pet projects.) Little Grace was also pouting for part of the carriage ride...  Typical brat. (kidding, just kidding!)


--Like most modern brides, Kate will forgo the use of the word “obey” in her vows, opting instead to “love, comfort, honor and keep” the prince


--Her engagement ring is the iconic sapphire worn by the late Princess Diana.  I'm thinking "ick"


--The bells of Westminster Abbey will ring for three hours after the royal wedding. The ringers will perform 5,000 changes for the first time since 2007;


--Britons will take 327 million photographs of the royal wedding;


--Ladbrokes froze bets on the Queen’s hat after yellow became the 10/11 odds-on favourite;


--William and Kate, a pair of royal starlings at Chester Zoo, have been renamed Billy and Nate after both turned out to be cock birds.  Oops;


--Researchers found that one in five adults plans to purchase a royal collectable and will spend an average of £17 each — with mugs, tea-towels and plates the most popular items. But seven in 10 won’t admit it to friends for fear of ridicule.  Now that's good.


--The job of calming Prince William’s nerves has been given to Sir Stephen Lamport, the Receiver General at Westminster Abbey.  And pray, tell how he's to do that?;


--Justin Tunstall has produced two royal cheddars to mark the event, one called “Congratulations Wills and Kate”, the other christened “Sod the Wedding – It’s a Day Off”. The latter is selling eight times faster in his shop in Lyme Regis, Dorset;


--Up to 600,000 people will turn their kettles on after the couple kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, the National Grid predicts;


--The country’s largest rail union, the RMT, will keep its head office in London open during Friday’s bank holiday because it opposes the monarchy. The staff could choose whether or not to work, a union spokesman added.  Good on them;


--The number of royal wedding street parties will now top 5,500, the Local Government Association said yesterday. Councils have received a last-minute surge of applications for road closures, with 1,500 requests in the past three weeks;


--Hertfordshire appears to be the most royalist county with 298 street parties planned. West Berkshire has just 19 applications.


--Your honeymoon WHERE??  Speculation that Prince William and Kate Middleton will spend their honeymoon in Transylvania has reached fever pitch in Romania. The Prince of Wales owns a property in the village of Viscri, which was visited by a security team in recent weeks, residents claimed;


--The royal couple will be toasted with modest £30 bottles of champagne at the wedding breakfast. They have chosen non-vintage champagne from the family-run Pol Roger vineyard that was a favourite of Sir Winston Churchill;


--One in three Britons will try to avoid seeing the royal wedding, according to a ComRes poll for ITV News;


--More than 500 yards of red carpet were rolled out at Heathrow Airport arrivals halls to give passengers a welcome fit for a future king and queen. Thousands of cups of White Earl Grey tea, blended by Twinings for the event, will be given out free of charge.  It's for sure they couldn't charge for it--not with that flavor.


Have a great weekend, y'all.


Links:  http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/royal-wedding-mysteries-solved-2479360/
http://www.omaha.com/article/20110428/LIVING/704289963/-1
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8477958/Royal-wedding-trivia-50-fascinating-facts-about-Kate-Middleton-and-Prince-Williams-big-day.html