Agog About the Wedding of the Century

CEBU, Philippines - Excitement the world over has been building as the altar date of Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton approaches. What has been described as the Wedding of the Century will take place on April 29 at Westminster Abbey in London. The event will be carried live via TV and the Internet around the globe. The ceremony starts at 6 p.m. Manila time.

The wedding of William and Kate is definitely the biggest royal happening since William’s parents, Prince Charles and Diana Spencer, tied the knot in 1981. That fairytale event was witnessed by a global television audience of 750 million people. But take note: an expected two billion people are expected to watch the wedding of William and Kate!

In comparison, an estimated 2.5 million watched the funeral of Diana in 1997. It was the most-viewed TV event ever.

But William and Kate’s wedding may be blazing a trail in a different way: The media empire of Rupert Murdoch is planning to show the wedding on 3D TV.

Just why is the royal wedding an international media event? First of all, William is the second in line to the British throne. But his wait could be a short one. The buzz is that his dad, Prince Charles, may have a brief reign after he inherits the crown from her mom, Queen Elizabeth. Charles has remarried, to Camilla Parker Bowles, a divorcee. Camilla had been vilified as the other woman after reports circulated that Charles had been seeing her even while he was married to Diana. Many British long for a young, “untainted” king like William, who by the way has inherited his mother’s infectious charm and good looks.

Kate, meanwhile, is a stunning beauty herself and is already being adored by hordes of fans, who look up to her as another Diana. The bride-to-be is expected to arrive at Westminster in a Rolls Royce sedan. By contrast, Diana was brought to St. Paul’s Cathedral by a horse-drawn carriage. William’s best man will be his younger brother, Prince Harry. The maid of honor will be Kate's sister, Philippa.

Playing at the wedding, which will be a grand display of British pomp and pageantry, will be two boys choirs, the London Chamber Orchestra, the Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force, and the State Trumpeters of The Household Cavalry.

What the bride will wear and who designed it will not be revealed until Kate makes her appearance at Westminster.

Only around 1,900 people have been invited to the ceremony. Heading the list are the couple's friends and family. Also invited are members of foreign royal families, heads of state, and commoners representing the charities Prince William supports.

Definitely not in the guest list: Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, once married to Queen Elizabeth’s second son, Prince Andrew. The couple divorced in 1996, following a stormy relationship. She was reportedly seen in the company of other men while her husband was away. Since then the royal family has avoided Sarah like the plague.

Last year, Fergie, as the press has nicknamed Sarah, stirred up a major, major scandal after being filmed asking a fee of 500,000 pounds from a tabloid reporter posing as a businessman for access to Prince Andrew.

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Two people were the recipients of the corneas of teen actor AJ Perez, who died in a car crash in Tarlac last April 17.

The family of AJ had said he wanted to donate his corneas once he passed away.

One of the recipients is 28-year-old Lawrence Villanueva, and the other an eight-year-old boy.

It had earlier been reported that AJ’s corneas would be bequeathed to a young blind singer, Fatima Soriano. But it turned out that the problem with Fatima, who had been blind since birth, lies with her retinas.