Friday, April 15, 2011

PRINCE WILLIAM AND KATE MIDDLETON'S WEDDING OF THE CENTURY ON 29 APRIL 2011


RM 150 PER PERSON FOR THE PRINCE WILLIAM WEDDING PARTY IN KUALA LUMPUR ON 29 APRIL 2011 AT INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL, JALAN AMPANG HOSTED BY THE BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER MR SIMON FEATHERSTONE.

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The Wedding of the Century will be the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on 29 April 2011.

Not invited to the wedding?

Me neither! Can you believe I am NOT invited to Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace?

But all is not lost. There is the Next Best Thing but it will cost you. For around RM 75,000 per person or RM 115,000 per couple, you can enjoy a surreal experience of the royal nuptials in right royal surroundings.

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His Excellency Mr Simon Featherstone, British High Commissioner to Malaysia.


For those on a SMALLER budget, His Excellency Mr Simon Featherstone the British High Commissioner to Malaysia is hosting a Prince William and Kate Wedding Party on 29 April 2011, the day of the wedding itself, at Intercontinental Hotel, formerly Nikko, Jalan Ampang opposite Ampang Park. The party starts at 5pm, which is 11 am in London and guests can watch the entire nuptials broadcast live on giant TV screens.

RM 150 per person and includes buffet dinner and 3 drinks. RM 100 for children with buffer dinner and soft drinks.


Dress code; Wedding attire or National Costume. I have never been married so don't have any wedding garments so I shall be wearing my stunning feather shirt! It will be fun, fun, fun so buy your tickets now! Rule Britannia! Britannia Rules the Waves!


Contact Charlotte; 03-2170 2379 for tickets.

The Wedding of the Century will be broadcast live and watched by maybe 2 billion. It is the most anticipated event as unlike the annual Academy Awards or once every four year Olympics, this is a once in a lifetime event.

No non-governmental Malaysians have come forward brandishing the coveted white card gilded with gold which reads “The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by The Queen to invite (your name) to the marriage of His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales KG with Miss Katherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011 at 11.00am”.

Over 1,900 will get this card, from top British and foreign politicians and dignitaries, including Governor-Generals and Prime Ministers of the Commonwealth.

Even if you are one of the 1,900 guests invited to Westminster Abbey, you may have to buy your own lunch as only 600 will be invited to Buckingham Palace for lunch hosted by Queen Elizabeth II. This is whittled to only 300 for the gala dinner followed by dancing!

Unless you are a personal friend of Prince William or on intimate terms of Kate Middleton (in which case you probably will not be invited!), have the handphone number of Queen Elizabeth II or are pally-wally with Prince Charles who is footing the bill, the chances of you winning the lottery jackpot are infinitely higher than getting an invite.

All is not lost. For around RM 75,000, you can enjoy a surreal royalist experience by meeting royals and a whirlwind tour of homes connected with the British Royal Family.

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park is offering an exclusive, extravagant and expensive Royal Wedding Tour taking in Kensington Palace, home of Princess Diana, Chartwell, home of Sir Winston Churchill, Althorp where Princess Diana is buried, Spencer House in London and of course Westminster Abbey, the wedding’s venue. More important, you get to meet what the hotel describes euphemistically as ‘first hand family members and associates of the Royal Family’.

The names are not released until you check in as presumably these royals who are being rolled out to be exhibited to wealthy curious foreign visitors are not doing this for their health. We can safely assume they will be compensated one way or another and no déclassé details are provided.

In its own right, Hyde Park hotel, now part of Mandarin Oriental, is a right royal hotel since 1889 and a favourite venue for royal balls, grand galas, society events and official engagements. Sir Winston Churchill stayed here when his London home was under renovation. Queen Elizabeth II and her late sister Princess Margaret learned to dance in its gilded ballroom. Prince Charles and Princess Anne visited the tearooms often as children. Recently the Queen and Prince Phillipe were guests at Baroness Margaret Thatcher’s 80th birthday.

This Royal Wedding Tour starts on Tuesday 26 April when you check into a deluxe room followed by welcome drinks and dinner. The next day you will be driven to Chartwell, Sir Winston Churchill’s home in Kent where you will be welcomed by a member of the Churchill clan. In 1946 Churchill and his wife Clementine realised they could not afford the upkeep. A consortium led by Lord Camrose bought the property and allowed the couple to stay for a nominal rent till their death after which it would be given to the National Trust. After a tour of the mansion, you will lunch at the nearby private family home.

In the evening guests depart for Spencer House, home of the Spencer family whose most famous member was the late and great Princess Diana. Spencer House was designed on a grand scale and is London’s only surviving 18th century private palace. Situated in the heart of St James’s, it is a short distance from St James Palace, Buckingham Palace and Palace of Westminster aka Parliament House.

Enjoy drinks on the great terrace overlooking Green Park followed by a private tour and dinner in the Great Room designed by James Athenian Stuart. Spencer House is open to the public (L9) and you can book Spencer House and get exclusive use of the house and the 8 State Rooms. A dream venue for getting hitched! Consider Spencer House when you or your kids wish to tie the nuptial knot.

On Thursday 28 April, the eve of Prince William’s wedding, start the morning with a hefty cultural dose by visiting British Museum, the world’s largest and greatest depository of human and natural works of art. Lunch will be at The Wallace Collection, a national museum in a historic London house. Its 25 galleries are filled with fabulous paintings, furniture, porcelain, Old Masters and armoury. On hand will be director Dame Ros Saville to point out the finer aspects.

Dinner will take place at the home of a member of the Royal Family at their private London townhouse. The identity remains secret but you should get your money’s worth as this is one of the highlights.

THE WEDDING DAY, FRIDAY 29 APRIL 2011

You did not fly all the way from Kuala Lumpur to watch them tie the marital knot on television. Nor are you going to battle the peasants lining the route, with elbows poking your ribs and dirty shoes trampling on your Jimmy Choos.

So it is off to Institute of Contemporary Art, booked for your exclusive use. Assemble at the roof terrace armed with champagne, binoculars and cameras where you will bask in the spring sunshine high above the baying crowd struggling below. In this pole position you will get magnificent panoramic views overlooking The Mall, one of the official routes. From the ICA’s vantage point, you will feel like you were almost invited.

Around 10am or so, Miss Katherine Middleton will pass The Mall directly below you enroute to Westminster Abbey by car. The Dean of Westminster will conduct the service. The Archbishop of Canterbury will marry Prince William and Kate Middleton and the Bishop of London will give the address, all of which you will follow on television this time.

The newlyweds Prince William and now Princess Kate will return to Buckingham Palace on the same route in a glass carriage. As they pass below you, toast the couple and revel in history in the making. After the drama and excitement, a three course lunch awaits as you admire ICA’s modern masterpieces.

In the evening, you and fellow guests will be whisked off to Kensington Palace, home of Princess Diana which is the next best venue since her son is celebrating at nearby Buckingham Palace. Drinks are served in the sunken garden. Curator Nigel Arch will take you on a personal tour and dinner will be in the newly restored Kings Gallery. With portraits of kings and queens and cutlery of silver and gold gilt, it should be a royal repast.

THE DAY AFTER; SATURDAY 30 APRIL

First thing is to visit the venue where you were forbidden to enter the day before--- Westminster Abbey! Not as a gawking tourist but in the presence of the Dean of Westminster. With a little luck he might regale you of what transpired during the ceremony and gala wedding dinner.

Westminster Abbey is a UNESCO World Heritage site and founded in 650. It is a Royal Peculiar as it is under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch. Go to the altar and front row pews where you saw the couple and entire Royal Family on TV, visualise the entire event and relive the drama all over again. Prince Charles married Diana in St Paul’s Cathedral and perhaps his son avoided that venue as look what happened to that marriage.

After lunch, perhaps you wish to make a beeline for the designer of Princess Kate’s wedding gown as by now the whole world will know the identity of the fortunate designer. Order a frock or buy one off the rack so you can come home and boast of being the first Malaysian to wear a baju from Princess Katherine’s designer.

Before dinner, relax in Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park’s spa to soothe the aching muscles and straighten the kinks. Unwind at the hotel’s internationally acclaimed Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.

MAY DAY SUNDAY

May Day starts with a trip to Northamptonshire for lunch at Althorp, the palatial ancestral home of Princess Diana though she was born in Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk. Visit the exhibition ‘Diana Princess of Wales’. Take a stroll through the park and see the small island in the middle of a lake where she is buried. It is rumoured Prince William and Princess Katherine may come to pay their respects so hold your breath.

You will be taken on a private tour of Althorp, normally open to the public from July to August so this is a privilege. Another biggie is the lunch hosted by a member of the Spencer family, said to be one of Princess Diana’s sisters Sarah or Jane or younger brother Charles. Lay the foundation for a future invite as Prince Harry is still single...

A farewell dinner in the hotel and you depart the next day 2 May in majestic triumph. Of course you can extend your stay to shop or collect your custom made dresses by Princess Kate’s new dressmaker.

Royal Wedding Tour Package; L 11,300 pounds per person or L18,800 pounds for two sharing room. Exclusive of 20% VAT and 5% tax. +44 207 201 3618 or www.mandarinoriental.com/london

THOSE ON A BUDGET

Those on a budget may consider waylaying the couple of the century during their honeymoon. Being politically correct, they could not honeymoon in Pangkor Laut or Kota Baru as it has to be somewhere in United Kingdom.

Rumour has it they will honeymoon in Scilly isles which is not to be confused with the more famous Sicily island of Italy! The Isles of Scilly have just 5 inhabited and many uninhabited islands off Land’s End in Cornwall and hold a special significance for Prince William. In 1989, aged 7 he spent a family holiday in Scilly with his parents and Prince Harry. With a population of 2,000 the Isles of Scilly would make a wonderful getaway yet revive happy memories of his childhood days.

THOSE ON A SMALLER BUDGET!

His Excellency the British High Commissioner to Malaysia Mr Simon Featherstone CMG and his wife Gail will host a ‘Prince William and Kate’ Wedding Party on 29 April, the day of the wedding.

The venue is the Grand Ballroom of Intercontinental hotel (formerly Nikko) opposite Ampang Park. Both the High Commissioner and his wife are not invited to the Royal Wedding either so we will all be in good company.

There will be a live broadcast of the wedding on giant screens as it occurs in London. RM 150 per person inclusive of buffet dinner and 3 drinks. RM 100 for children and soft drinks. Dress code is Wedding Attire or National Dress!

Contact Charlotte 03-2170 2379.

THE END



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