The royal wedding in numbers

It can't have escaped your notice that there's something of an event going on at Westminster Abbey tomorrow. You've looked at our FAQ, but you may still have a few questions lingering. How many coppers will be keeping the royal couple safe? How many wedding cakes are there? Here's a quick round-up of all the fast facts and figures about the big day to help clear things up!

An estimated two billion viewers will be watching the wedding on TVs around the world.

The families are paying around 70 million quid for the shindig themselves but the Great British public are still forking out an estimated 20 million pounds for the security costs.

That pays for around 5,000 police officers, who will be helped by 35 dogs who are specially-trained to sniff for bombs. In a bid to make their job easier, the authorities have banned 60 convicted criminals from the area around Westminster Abbey as part of their bail terms.

1,900 guests have been invited to the ceremony, but only 600 will make it to lunch at the Palace. That gets whittled down to 300 for dinner and dancing.


That number is dwarfed by the 8,000 TV and radio journalists who are covering the event (with 50 popping over from CNN alone). That's not to mention all the print journos making the trip!

There will be 187 horses on parade during the day. There'll be nine grey horses as part of the escort for the royal procession and five horse-drawn carriages.

Don't bother heading to John Lewis for the wedding list - the royal couple have instead chosen 26 charities to which guests and well-wishers can donate.

There are four bridesmaids for Kate - Eliza Lopes, Grace van Cutsem, The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones and The Lady Louise Windsor. It's five if you include her Maid of Honour - younger sister Philippa Middleton

With all the talk of The Dress - Kate Middleton will actually sport three outfits. That wedding dress, plus a couple of other get-ups for the other parts of the day.


Two wedding cakes will be prepared. A traditional fruit cake with white icing and cream from Fiona Cairns is the official one. At Prince William's request, the reception will also boast a chocolate biscuit cake from McVitie's, made with 1,700 rich tea biscuits.

There'll be just one wedding ring though. Apparently Prince William - like his grandad Philip - won't be given a wedding band at the ceremony.