Following is a selection of stories on the royal wedding that have appeared in newspapers and on websites in the last week.
-- Royal couple in spotlight at first official visit
Prince William and bride-to-be Kate Middleton performed their first official engagement as a couple on Thursday, giving them an early taste of life in the spotlight that awaits them.
International media and hundreds of local well-wishers descended on Trearddur Bay, on the Welsh island of Anglesey, to greet the couple as they attended the launch of a new lifeboat.
Middleton, 29, had her hair pulled back in a ponytail on a blustery but sunny afternoon and wore a beige, knee-length coat with dark brown trim, dark scarf, gloves and a feather fascinator.
(Source: Reuters)
-- Kate's a Corker: Crowds cheer as beauty launches royal career
Glamorous Kate Middleton sparkled at her first official engagement yesterday. Looking stylish in a tweed coat, Kate launched a new lifeboat with champagne as hubby-to-be Prince William joked: "She gets to do the fun bit."
(Source: Daily Mirror)
-- Royal wedding "sick bag" souvenir
A UK-based graphic designer has designed a solution for people who are "sick" of the hype surrounding Prince William and Kate Middleton's upcoming wedding.
The pair will marry in London at Westminster Abbey on April 29, and news agencies around the world are already counting down the days.
Graphic designer Lydia Leith told the Huffington Post that her hand screen-printed, limited-edition Royal Wedding Sick Bags are "just a bit of fun."
Leith, who said she's not an anti-monarchist, told the website that the idea for the colorful bags started out as a joke item that she planned to sell to family and friends.
(Source: CBC News, Canada)
-- Another Kate Middleton who married on April 29
Prince William's bride-to-be will not be the first Kate Middleton to celebrate her wedding day on April 29.
For a namesake of the future princess tied the knot on the very same date 16 years ago at Leicester's historic St Mary de Castro church.
And the city's Kate Middleton admits she will be watching the royal wedding as she celebrates her own anniversary with childhood sweetheart Brad Staples.
(Source: This Is Leicestershire)
-- Danger stag do for Wills
Prince William will have his stag do at sea -- taking part in a variety of extreme watersports, The Sun can reveal.
Brother Harry is planning the bash at which Wills will let his hair down before marrying Kate Middleton in April.
The royal groom to be and 20 pals will enjoy a day of off-shore thrills and spills, racing speedboats and water-skiing.
Then the party will go on an evening pub crawl -- by boat. Harry, 26, held secret talks with one of Britain's top watersports firms, which specializes in stag and hen parties.
(Source: The Sun)
-- Diana wedding eclipses Kate's for cash
The royal wedding is set to generate half a billion pounds for UK retailers -- just a quarter of what Charles and Diana's big day rang up.
In 1981, the wedding of the Prince of Wales and the late princess contributed 680 million pounds to the British economy -- the equivalent of 2.2 billion pounds today, adjusted for inflation.
More than 600,000 tourists jetted to London while another 750 million watched the ceremony on television.
Thirty years on and Prince William, 28, will marry Kate Middleton, 29, at Westminster Abbey on April 29.
While the excitement is mounting, the Center for Retail Research predicts the event will only bring in 515 million pounds for UK retailers.
(Source: Daily Express)
- Visit our royal wedding web page at http://uk.reuters.com/subjects/royal-wedding
- Visit our royal wedding blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/royal-wedding-diary/
(Writing by Mike Collett-White)