The royal wedding, will cast aside one tradition: Kate Middleton is traveling to the ceremony in a car, not a horse-drawn carriage.
Buckingham Palace yesterday gave out specifics of the April 29 royal wedding.
The wedding will begin at 11 a.m. inside Westminster Abbey, with the Prince William and Kate Middleton riding through London before an outpouring of well-wishers, the New York Daily News reports.
But unlike Diana Spencer or Sarah Ferguson, Middleton will travel to the wedding in a car instead of an open carriage.
Royal historian Hugo Vickers told the BBC the choice was more about the London weather than anything else: “I’m not sure if you can have an open carriage in April.”
The Very Rev. John Hall, the dean of Westminster, will conduct the service, while the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England Dr. Rowan Williams, will marry the couple. The Right Rev. Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London and a friend of Prince Charles, will give the address.
Middleton and her new husband will leave Westminster inside a carriage for their ride to Buckingham Palace. Once there, the couple is expected to pop out on the main balcony for a photo op.
The wedding reception will be hosted by William’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. The list of guests remains private, although palace officials said it would contain a mix of people from the couple’s official and private circle of friends.
Kathy Griffin is ending the six season – and Emmy Award-winning – run of her hit Bravo show, “My Life on the D-List,” she tells People.
“It was a really tough decision because I think of the D-List as pretty much my baby for the last six seasons and I also think it was really time to stop doing it,” Griffin, 50, said. “Reality is great, but I really didn’t set out to be a reality star. So now it’s time to spread my wings and show that I’m a little different than Kate Gosselin.”
“I’m not saying better,” she says, laughing, “but maybe separate myself from the pack a little bit.”
“Little Fockers” may have gotten slammed in reviews — but the comedy brought in a huge payday for its cast, with about $70 million going for salaries, according to the New York Post.
While the current U.S. box office stands at about $105 million, the film will need to pack more theaters to cover A-list star salaries that sources say amounted to $20 million each for Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, $15 million for Owen Wilson and $7 million for Barbra Streisand.
Even Dustin Hoffman, who plays Greg Focker’s father, Bernie, managed to negotiate a $7.5 million deal after Universal reshoots were needed at the last minute and he was begged to join. And Jessica Alba is thought to have been paid about $3 million.
Carlos Santana and his new bride, drummer Cindy Blackman, didn’t let a little rain ruin their wedding day.
“The weather was kind of iffy, so we said, ‘Let’s just do it inside,’ ” the guitar legend Santana, 63, told People of their Dec. 19 nuptials at the Ritz-Carlton on Maui. “Because no matter where we did it, the sun was shining.”
“Rain represents mercy,” adds Blackman, 51. “It couldn’t have been more beautiful.”
In fact, the couple fully embraced the weather: “My favorite part of the ceremony was when we washed our hands in a bowl of rainwater,” says Blackman, adding that the gesture was suggested by Santana’s son (from his first marriage), Salvador.
“We absolved ourselves of all things past and all things future except the two of us. It felt so clearing to do that,” she says.
Santana and Blackman, a jazz and rock drummer often recognized for her work with Lenny Kravitz, were feted by 180 guests, including comedian George Lopez and musician pals Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, who performed at the reception.
“That took the wedding to a whole other level of the word supreme,” says the groom.
Blackman, who wore a custom-made silk dress from the Zurich boutique Zoro for the ceremony, says she and Santana, who proposed during a concert last July, also released doves “to release our purity and love into the cosmos.”
After honeymooning in Hawaii over the holidays, the guitarist is already back to work – he kicks off his new residency at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas on Wednesday – but is basking in the glow of married life.
“Cindy is a match with everything that I am, from fire of passion to vulnerability,” he says. “Everything tastes better when you share it with your soul mate.”
lsmith@denverpost.com
