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412 lines
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Executable File
news
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uknews
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royal-wedding
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8148469
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-----
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# Kate Middleton: approval from the Shires
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## There are no faults to find in this marriage of Eton and Marlborough that
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puts a sensible girl centre stage, says Vicki Woods
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![Miss Middleton has worked has worked with her mum Carole since she gave up
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her job as an accessories buyer for the clothing store Jigsaw][1]
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Miss Middleton with her mother Carole Photo: ANTONY JONES
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10:07AM GMT 20 Nov 2010
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[Comments][2]
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Here in the Hampshire-Berkshire borders, our news arrives just as fast as it
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does in the metropolis. But if it's not on the Today programme you miss
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things, so I often switch on the BBC telly news channel for a catch-up at noon
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while I make a cuppa.
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![Kate Middleton will never be allowed to be alone in public again as she
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begins the first day of the rest of her life in the company of a close
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protection officer. ][3]
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A police officer stands guard on the road to the house of Kate Middleton's
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parents in Bucklebury
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On Tuesday, I got quite boggled by that Emily Maitlis, the Newsnight
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presenter, who was standing in front of railings with a fur-collared coat on.
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She looked starved with cold (as my late mother used to say) despite the coat,
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and since something about railings always suggests high London politics or
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royalty to those of us in the Shires, I watched for a bit, while interviewees
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were thrown at her.
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It was clearly got up in a hurry, this outside broadcast. One glamorous young
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woman (I think from Grazia magazine) said: "We're all hoping for Amanda
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Wakeley! Or someone called Erdem who's an English designer!" Another lovely
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girl (I think from Tatler) said, "Everyone in the office is just, like, Yes!"
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When they were whisked away, Maitlis said, "The sun comes out and it'll be a
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[**royal wedding**][4]!" Ah, thinks I - [**Prince William**][5] has finally
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popped the question. Hello! will be thrilled.
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I stayed downstairs long enough to hear Maitlis questioning somebody from
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Brides magazine about "loads of tulle" and do an unhappy exchange about lowly
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commoners marrying princes of the blood with Charles Kidd, the knowledgeable
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chap from Debrett's Peerage. "There was Catherine of Braganza, of course," he
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told Maitlis, who said, bafflingly, "That's your spear - your spear of
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knowledge?" Ooh, kinder to switch off, I thought, and went back to my office
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with the tea.
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Almost immediately, an email from Women's Wear Daily popped up, saying [**KATE
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MIDDLETON**][6], Royal fiancee/ TOP STORY. I fell on it with delight. It's
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always better to read the foreign press on royal stories, because their biases
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are a) more apparent and b) less vicious. "Kate," said WWD, "with her long,
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wavy, chocolate-brown hair and sapphire eyes, is an unapologetic classic
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dresser. Think updated Sloane Ranger, right in the mold [sic] of Diana."
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## Related Articles
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* [British brides 'in fear' over Royal Wedding][7]
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20 Nov 2010
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* [Middletons' money - how was it made?][8]
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20 Nov 2010
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* [Prince William may hit the G-spot on his stag night][9]
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20 Nov 2010
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* [Royal Wedding: Mrs Bennett Lament][10]
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20 Nov 2010
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* [The making of a princess][11]
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21 Nov 2010
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* [Does Kate Middleton's style echo Diana?][12]
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22 Nov 2010
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It went on: "A 'commoner', in lovely British parlance, she eschews big
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designer labels in favor of jeans and cowboy boots and decidedly ladylike
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clothes from labels including…" blah, blah, blah, blah (a whole paragraph of
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accurate reportage). That "lovely British parlance" jibe is a bit sarcastic.
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There's nothing wrong with being a commoner. Especially these days, when every
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other flipping lord is suspect for one reason or another.
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My daughter (same age as Middeton) finds herself "strangely excited" by the
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idea of a royal wedding in the midst of all this 2010 gloom, and looks on Kate
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with benevolence, as being "pretty much the sort of girl you hoped he'd go
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for". What we both liked about the joint photocall (apart from the lunatic
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firestorm of flash-flash-flash which almost made it unwatchable) was that Kate
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stood up nice and straight, didn't fidget and was firmly in command of her own
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voice, like a nicely brought up young American woman.
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On the subject of Diana, Kate said twice that she was "inspirational", and
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then looked ever so slightly flustered by the repetition, which is a very good
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sign. She'd obviously had it in her head to say, but is bright enough to know
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that saying it once was enough. If this little hiccup is the extent of her
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press fluffs so far, we should have every faith in her royal future. We don't
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like being embarrassed by royal daughters-in-law - or granddaughters-in-law.
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High and low, here in the Shires, we're not that fussed about who pays for the
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wedding, nor how much it will cost per person per household. We're paying our
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taxes anyway, aren't we? It's not like we'll all get a rebate if they don't
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have a big jolly wedding. We think it'll do very well, this marriage of Eton
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and Marlborough. We approve of Eton (in a low-key way) and very much approve
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of Marlborough, especially since (in Kate's time) it was under the headship of
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Ed Gould, a very good headmaster.
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My friend Mary Killen, the Spectator agony aunt, says the school's ethos is
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just the right cocktail of sensitive/stuffy/bohemian to fit perfectly into
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royal circles and stand Kate in good stead. Another friend, whose son and
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daughter went there, says it's especially good for girls - Marlborough girls
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are "friendly, outgoing, attractive, kind and perhaps above all cheerful".
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While the academic life is only so-so, Kate did history of art, which is
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easily the best department, led by Dr Niall Hamilton, who's the bees' knees.
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The best thing Diana ever did for her sons was to put her foot down about
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Eton, I reckon. It was a good thing on many levels - it seems to have given
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them both self-confidence. And Eton is much more of a networking school than
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Gordonstoun, that Ultima Thule in Caledonia stern and wild that didn't seem to
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do the little Prince of Wales much good. (Nor Andrew nor Edward either,
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frankly.) And it's all right for David Cameron to say that his children aren't
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going to Eton, oh, no, heaven forbid, but actual Etonians (it seems to me)
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don't realise what a benefit their school was for them, in that I Rule The
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World kind of way. I expect they think it's just the way they are.
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As for the Middleton family's dizzy rise, from Durham miner and shopgirl
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(Carole Middleton's parents) to a future Princess of Wales in two generations
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(Mrs Middleton's daughter) - that's the beauty of the English system. Lady
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Celestria Noel, the former Jennifer of Harpers & Queen's "Jennifer's Diary"
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says, "We shock the Almanach de Gotha people, the European aristos, especially
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the central and eastern Europeans, because they are people who know all 16 of
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their quarterings, or even 32. Whereas the Brits have always been very
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ignorant of their own ancestors and not very interested.
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"So our upper echelons have always been open to a nice fortune or a pretty
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face coming into the family. Kate Middleton makes a slight break in royal
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tradition, but absolutely not in aristocratic tradition."
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Some tabloid newspapers are getting very worked up about Diana's engagement
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ring. I don't understand it. I would happily see my own daughter or
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goddaughter accept Diana's ring for any of these reasons: 1) Value: it was
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£28,000 from Garrards in 1981; it's now worth a million and that's a million
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William isn't spending; good for him. 2) Loveliness (it's a fabulous
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sapphire). 3) Thrift: waste not, want not is the defining characteristic of
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the English upper echelons - why else do young toffs take grandpa's old guns
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out shooting, or wear their great-uncle's tailcoat?
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I can't imagine what the ghoul brigade think should be done with Diana's ring.
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Buried with her, perhaps, in the lake at Althorp? Or displayed on a wax
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mannequin behind glass at Earl Spencer's museum?
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[X][13] Share & bookmark
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][14]
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* Share: [Share][13] [ ][15] [ ][16]
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[Tweet][17]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8148469/Kate-Middleton-
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approval-from-the-Shires.html
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Telegraph
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## [Royal Wedding][4]
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* ### [News »][18]
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* ### [The Royal Family »][19]
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* ### [UK News »][20]
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In news
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[![Royal wedding: Kate Middleton's wedding dress in pictures][21] ][22]
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### [Royal wedding highlights][22]
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[![Prince William and Kate wave to the crowds ][23] ][24]
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### [Royal wedding highlights][24]
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[![Prince William and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge kiss on the balcony
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in Buckingham Palace after their wedding service][25] ][26]
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### [Royal wedding balcony kiss][26]
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[![The best dressed at the royal wedding][27] ][28]
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### [Wedding day best dressed][28]
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[X][13] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][14]
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Share:
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* [ ][13]
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* [ ][15]
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* [ ][16]
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* [Tweet][17]
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* Advertisement
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![][29]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][30] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][31]
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[![Matt on the Royal Wedding][32]][33]
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## [royal wedding latest »][4]
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[![Royal wedding details][34]][4]
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[Official royal wedding photographs][35]
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[The best dressed guests][36]
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[Royal wedding highlights][37]
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[Royal wedding pictures][38]
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Advertisement
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[Follow The Telegraph on Social Media »][39]
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Telegraph Announcements
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