(Reuters does not vouch for the accuracy of reports from other publications.)
-- Britain's Prince William showed no signs of pre-wedding jitters as he got stuck into a soccer kickabout in a London park. Wills, wearing a pair of England shorts, laughed and joked with his friends during a rough-and-tumble game of five-a-side. The heir hurled himself into the tackles - clearly unbothered about the risk of straining something important so close to his and Kate's big day. At about 11 p.m. the prince set off home on his powerful Ducati motorbike - still wearing the trainers he played in. His famous features were hidden behind a helmet with tinted visor.
(April 28, source: The Sun)
-- For every Briton who will tune in to watch Friday's royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton, one definitely will not.
That was the finding of a recent Ipsos MORI poll for Reuters which underlines how, for all the international media hoopla surrounding the big occasion, the appeal of a rare show of royal pomp and pageantry is far from universal.
"I want to get as far away as possible from the wedding because it really doesn't mean anything to me, so my wife and I are going for a long weekend to Italy," said Londoner Alex Joseph, voicing a common view that has tended to be drowned out by the rising din of royal fervor.
"I don't think we will escape it fully as everyone will be talking about it, but at least we won't have to face the madness in London."
(April 28, source: Reuters)
-- The rest of us might be in the grip of royal wedding fever, but for senior members of the royal family it was business as usual yesterday as they carried out scheduled engagements around the country.
The queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were greeted by crowds in Cambridge where they visited St. John's College as part of its 500th anniversary celebrations.
(April 28, Source: Daily Telegraph)
-- Britain has withdrawn the royal wedding invitation to Syria, with the support of Buckingham Palace, after a violent crackdown against pro-democracy supporters, a Foreign Office spokesman said.
The invitation was rescinded on the eve of Friday's wedding between Prince William, the second-in-line to the British throne, and his long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton, following criticism from opposition politicians and human rights groups.
"You may not want to see the pictures of repression in Syria at the same time as the picture of the Syrian ambassador happily being greeted at the wedding," Human Rights Watch senior legal adviser Clive Baldwin told Reuters.
He said Britain should make clear it opposed human rights abuses to avoid being seen as condoning repressive regimes, especially as the eyes of the world would be on the country at this time.
(April 28, Source: Reuters)
-- She might not be amused but Queen Victoria would surely permit herself a wry smile of satisfaction to see so many of her descendants gathered in Westminster Abbey tomorrow. Eight of her great-great grandchildren will be there: the queen, Prince Philip, King Harald of Norway, Queen Margrethe of Denmark, her sister ex-Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, ex-King Constantine of Greece, his sister Queen Sofia of Spain and ex-King Michael of Romania.
Two other great-great-grandsons have sent regrets. King Carl Gustaf of Sweden is sending his daughter Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Daniel, who was once her personal trainer but is now more formally known as the Duke of Västergtland.
And King Juan Carlos of Spain will not be accompanying his wife but his heir Prince Felipe will be there with his glamorous wife Princess Letizia. A generation down, Victoria's great- great- great-grandson Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia will also be there with his wife Crown Princess Katherine.
Alexander's sister Princess Elizabeth will be there too. Once engaged to Richard Burton she is the mother of Dynasty actress Catherine Oxenberg and recently ran unsuccessfully for the presidency of Serbia. Of course not all family trees lead to Queen Victoria. The Dutch royal family will be represented by Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his Argentinian wife Princess Maxima.
(April 28, Source: Daily Express)
(Reporting by Paul Casciato, editing by Peter Millership)