Prince William and Kate Middleton seal their love on joyous wedding day
FORMALITIES over, the royal newlyweds have partied with 300 close friends and family at Buckingham Palace.
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FORMALITIES over, the newlywed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been partying with 300 of their closest friends and family at Buckingham Palace.
The couple left Clarence House for the short trip to Buckingham Palace for their party, after changing out of their wedding outfits.
Some 300 of the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's closest family and friends will celebrate with dancing and dinner at the black tie do, which will stretch into the early hours.
It is a much smaller group than the almost 2000 onlookers who were in Westminster Abbey when a dashing Prince William told his stunning bride Kate Middleton "You look beautiful" as they met at the altar.
Minutes later they sealed their love - and the future of the British monarchy - with two simple words: "I will".
Back at Buckingham Palace, the lovebirds delighted hundreds of thousands of delirious spectators by kissing twice on the balcony.
The couple shared a brief embrace before puckering up again for a more lingering kiss three minutes later - prompting a mighty roar from the crowd.
The wedding day was everything the monarchy could have hoped for.
As he waited at the altar, William whispered to his new father-in-law, Michael Middleton: "I thought this was just a small family gathering."
A radiant Kate entered the abbey in a glorious ivory and satin wedding gown with a 3m train, the bodice and sleeves covered in Chantilly lace.
She emerged Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, after the Queen marked the wedding by giving her grandson a dukedom - the highest rank of British peerage.
The couple pledged to "love, comfort, honour and keep" each other before William placed a slimline gold ring on Catherine's finger.
With a full veil, deep V neckline, laced sleeves and teardrop diamond earrings, she cut a spellbinding figure in the McQueen label dress. She wore a Cartier halo tiara lent to her by the Queen.
In his scarlet tunic and navy blue trousers of the Irish Guards, William, 28, cut a marvellous figure.
It's been a while since Britain had the empire on which the sun never set. But this time the empire struck back, putting on a show of the pomp and pageantry unrivalled in the world.
The amazing scenes finally gave Britons a sense that things might be looking up after years of struggling with the global financial crisis.
A good royal wedding will do that. And William's was the biggest and best yet.
Those of us who remember the Charles and Di extravaganza of 1981 would never have imagined that it could be trumped by their first-born son and the love of his life.
The magic ingredient was that it combined the fascination with royalty with something else - the emergence of a commoner who would become a princess.
Around nightfall on Thursday night - his last as a single man - Prince William and his brother Harry sauntered out of the Clarence House gates to chat to disbelieving onlookers.
The pair of heartbroken boys who choked up millions of watchers around the world when they walked behind their mother's coffin in 1997 had turned into these poised and polite young men, at ease with themselves and the massive crowd that was gathering to see them. You couldn't help thinking their mother would have been proud.
The newest royal couple chose an old-fashioned marriage ceremony, strong with the spirit of Diana. The final hymn sung at Diana's funeral was the first sung at yesterday's ceremony - Guide me, O thou great Redeemer.
As a surprisingly laidback groom and his best man, brother Harry, waited in Westminster Abbey, Kate made the 3 1/2 minute walk down the aisle on the arm of her father to the soaring choral masterpiece I Was Glad, which was used as the anthem at the wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981.
After a decade of friendship and eight years with her prince, the final stage of Kate's Cinderella story began as she left the five-star Goring Hotel at 10.51am for the precise nine-minute drive to the abbey in a royal Rolls Royce Phantom VI limousine. It was the ride of her life.
Crowds who had begun camping out days ago swelled to an estimated one million along the procession route on a grey London morning as Kate made her journey to the abbey's Great West Door.
William and Harry were the first royals to arrive at the abbey at 10.15am, with the groom making the surprise choice opting for the world-famous scarlet colours of the British army.
As a search and rescue helicopter pilot in the Royal Air Force, it had been predicted William would wear his plain, blue RAF flight lieutenant's uniform.
He is also the honorary colonel of the Irish Guards infantry regiment and chose to wear their red tunic, his highest-ranking uniform.
Also in his army uniform, Prince Harry carried the gold wedding band which was made by Welsh jewellers from a piece of Welsh gold given to Prince William by his grandmother Queen Elizabeth.
The secret of Kate's wedding dress was revealed as she stepped from the limousine to join her maid of honour, her sister Pippa, along with four bridesmaids and two pageboys.
She was elegant and poised, the epitome of dignity and style. Her dress, a modest and elegant British creation, was all that a princess's gown should be.
The Queen provided a dash of colour under grey skies, wearing a daffodil yellow single crepe wool primrose dress with hand-sewn beading at the neck in the shape of sunrays.
Guests included soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria, wearing a maternity dress designed by herself, Ian Thorpe, Elton John, and comedian Rowan Atkinson.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard wore Australian fashion including a blue fascinator from David Jones, a silver Aurellio Costarella jacket from Myer, a navy camisole and navy skirt.
Holding hands as they stood at Westminster Abbey's golden High Altar, Kate declared that, instead of the submissive vow to "obey" her husband, she would "love him, honour him, comfort and keep him".
The service was flawless but there was a moment of drama as the prince struggled to place the ring on Catherine's finger.
And unlike Diana, Catherine did not mix up her groom's name.
Prince William will not be wearing a wedding ring.
The hour-long service was broadcast on big screens along the parade route and a deafening roar rang out as the Archbishop of Canterbury declared them husband and wife.
- Pick up your FREE* Official Royal Wedding Medallion with a token in today’s Herald Sun.
- Don't miss your Royal Wedding Souvenir Edition of the Sunday Herald Sun.
- On Monday, collect your WILLIAM & KATE glossy souvenir magazine for just $2* when you purchase the Herald Sun.
(*Available from participating outlets in Victoria, Riverina and Tasmania only. Strictly while stocks last. Medallion + Herald Sun $1.50. Magazine + Herald Sun $3.10)
