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Live! From the Royal Wedding

It's happening.... I couldn't get to sleep, and I've been watching BBC America. If you're crazy and awake and have tidbits from other stations or gossip you want to share, let me know. I'm attempting to live blog....

So, I am apparently one of 2 billion people in 180 countries around the world up at strange hours of the night watching the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. 

I started about 1 a.m. and I'm watching BBC America, but I suppose I could switch back and forth. We'll see as the morning wears on. 

The big moment is at 11 a.m. Brit time, 3 a.m. Pacific time. That's when Catherine Middleton is supposed to arrive in a Rolls Royce with her father, and we will get the first glimpse of The Dress—the dress that could dictate wedding and even evening and prom fashion for the next few years. 

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I am watching BBC America, which is showing guests arriving at Westminster Abbey. Presenters are grabbing a few guests to bring into studio and get their insights on the bridal couple, Prince William and Catherine Middleton. 

3:54 a.m. William and Kate, now officially married in the eyes of the Church of England, move into back rooms to sign their wedding registry's while music, inspired by the works of John Milton, plays. They will eventualy leave the church, drive back to Buckingham Palace. A few hours later they and their families will stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to give an audience to their subjects, and expections are high that Kate and William will seal the occasion with a kiss. 

Find out what's happening in San Ramonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Alas I'm getting sleeping, so I'll have to watch this on replay. 

3::52 a.m. Time for "God Save the Queen." Which goes quickly, thank God. 

Now its 3:12 a.m., and ceremony has begun but I've been logging moments over the past two hours.

After Kate Middleton, in her lovely lace bodice creation, makes her way up the aisle, she and William exchange vows, saying they will take each other in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer.

The next hour becomes rather solemn. The Bishop of London proclaims:"This is a day of hope. The bride and grom are the creation of life from which can flow between them in the spirit of a generous God ... Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make their lives a work of art."

Lots of choir music in in between bugle triumphals. 

3:04: Procession of the bride starts. 

3 a.m. Get ready for the moment of truth: The revealing of The Dress. As the BBC commentators say, all eyes will be on that dress.... Grace Kelly-esque, said one commentator. He hair is half up, half down, curled at the throat. She is wearing a tiara. 

NOW! 

"I am beside myself, this is such a fashion moment," said one commentator, upon learning that Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen was the designer of this ivory silk dress with a train that's about 10 feet long. 

2:56 Kate's sister Pippa, and her bridesmaids are getting into place. 

2:51: Fleeting glimpse of Kate Middleton getting to her car. You can see a sleeved dress with lace along the chest and neck. As her car pulls away,  it affords a lovely view of Middleton inside, her face covered by a delicate lace veil. You can see her smile and wave to people along the way. 

2:51 Queen Elizabeth is dressed in canary yellow, and stands with the Duke of Edinburgh, her husband, and Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. 

2:45 "It's a fun, blooming fantastic day for British fashion," says a BBC commentator, rolling off the names of British designers well represented here: Anna Valentine, Vivienne Westwood. 

2:43 Quick shot outside the Goring Hotel, where Catherine Middleton stayed the night and from which she is expected to emerge. Will we get a glimpse of her here or only when she emerges at the abbey? 

2:42 Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh driving up to the abbey.

2:38 Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, in a 1954 Phantom 4 Rolls Royce are pulling up. She is said to be wearing a champagne silk dress and a champagne silk coat designed by British designer Anna Valentine, along with Jimmy Choo shoes.

2:35: The arrival of the Duke of York and his daughters, Beatrice, 22, and Eugenie, 21, arrive. Their mother, Sarah aka Fergie, was not on the invite list. They are among many members of the extended royal family making their way into the church. If that's Prince Michael of Kent, with his beard and military bearing, he looks like something out of the photos of the pre-World War monarchs, including Czar Nicholas II. 

2:33 BBC fashion commentators give props to Carol Middleton's pearl blue (not powder blue!) coat dress that is simple but semi-fitted. Her hat has a rosette on top. 

2:29: Arriving at the abbey, the royal families of Norway and Denmark. On their way, the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

2:26 a.m. Carol Middleton is in the car, on her way to the abbey. She is said to be wearing a sky blue coat dress with blue piping designed by Catherine Walker. 

2:23 a.m. The Sultan of Brunei has just arrived, so has Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand. Oh, and here comes Prince Albert of Monaco and his fiance, the former South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock

2:20 a.m. William is greeting relatives of his late mother, Princess Diana. 

2:13 a.m. A big cheer and wail goes up as Prince William, accompanied by Prince Harry, emerges from Clarence House, and gets into a a burgundy Rolls Royce to make his way to Westminster Abbey. We're learning this morning that William, decked out in his Irish Guards uniform, which is known for its bright red coat, has been made the Duke of Cambridge.

The crowds are 20 deep and the bells are ringing .

William emerges from the car, in his bright red coat with blue sash, waves to crowd, and walks up the red carpet into Westminster Abbey.

Just hearing that the bells of the abbey will peel for three hours after the ceremony.  

2 a.m. BBC America presenter Sophie Raworth, talking with design experts, speculates more about what the wedding dress will be like, and who the designer will be? Issa? McQueen? 

1:56 a.m. Popping back into Westminster Abbey to see the arrival of the Australian prime minister. Some 50 heads of Commonwealth states will be on hand for the wedding.

1:50 a.m. Former Prime Minister John Major arrived. Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is invited but is too ill to attend. 

1:44 a.m. Hairdressers arrived at the Goring Hotel at 6:30 a.m. to work on Catherine Middleton's hair, according to BBC presenter Sophie Raworth. She spoke with Middleton's longtime hairdressers, Richard Ward and James Pryce. They revealed that Kate has given them one condition for the day: William must recognize her.

1:41 a.m. Mayor Boris Nelson of London says he's very glad to give the perfect present for the royal couple: a tandem bicycle. It's a fantastic day for London. We've got every American broadcaster you can imagine here, a good run through for the Olympics.

1:40 am. Interview with Prime Minister David Cameron: "I think it's mixture of amazing young couple and how they love each other, and the whole pageantry of it, the history of it. It's very exciting waking up today ... [Kate] brings a sense of humor and duty and what they are bound for. Prince William has a wicked sense of humor but a keen sense of duty.  

1:35 a.m. Shortly before, celebrity couple David and Victoria Beckham arrived at Westminster Abbey and we're told they will be sitting in the knave. He was dressed in a dark suit with silver tie; she in a simple black tunic dress with short sleeves. And, yes, in keeping with wedding fashion, she was wearing a hat: a simple silky black cap.


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