Entertainment

Royal wedding fever

If your invitation to the royal wedding got lost in the mail, don’t sweat it. You can watch every second of “The Wedding of the Century” at home in your pajamas, Set your alarm early (there’s a five-hour time difference), fasten your tiara and settle in with a cup of English Breakfast tea. Here’s what to expect:

At 8 am (that’s 3 am, New York time) Buckingham Palace will announce the titles that Kate and William are receiving from the Queen on the occasion of their marriage.

The scene shifts to Westminster Abbey (left) the traditional place for a royal wedding (Queen Elizabeth II was married here, in 1947) at 8:15 am. Guests will start arriving. And arriving. It takes a long while, till about 9:50 am. The church will be seated from back to front.

Don’t expect to see Sarah Ferguson or President Obama, since neither made the invite list, but the Beckhams and Sir Elton John will be there.

The excitement mounts as Prince William leaves Clarence House at 10:10 am in a Bentley accompanied by his brother and best man, Prince Harry. Members of the royal family arrive at the Abbey 10 minutes later. Watch for plenty of over-the-top Philip Tracey hats. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are seated at 10:45 am.

Kate arrives accompanied by her father, Michael Middleton, at 11:00 am, in the same Rolls Royce limousine that was used by Prince Charles and Camilla when they were attacked during student protests earlier this year. The service begins. An audio feed will be played along the processional route.

At the very same time we get the first glimpse of Kate in her dress. The palace will finally release the name of the designer with sketches and photos. The frontrunners are rumored to be Sarah Burton from Alexander McQueen and Bruce Oldfield.

After the ceremony, at approximately 12:15 pm, Kate and William depart for Buckingham Palace traveling along the processional route through London in a horse-drawn carriage. (If it rains, they’ll be in the glass coach used by Princess Diana). The Queen will host a luncheon at the palace attended by 650 guests.

During the reception, the couple will make the traditional appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony to greet the crowd at 1:25 p.m.. Will there be a kiss? The Queen will be just steps away so it will likely be pretty chaste.

Prince Charles will host a more intimate, black-tie dinner at the palace for 300 at 7 pm. There will be dancing. Expect the newest member of the royal family to make an appearance in another glam dress. A fashion star is born.