Bride-to-be Kate Middleton arrives at Westminster Abbey this morning for what has been billed as the wedding of the century
The happy couple hold hands during the wedding service at Westminster Abbey which was conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, centre
Kate Middleton arrives with her father Michael Middleton to join Prince William and his best man Harry at the altar
Newlyweds William and Kate After the Wedding
Newly-wed: Prince William Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge leave Westminster Abbey with her sister Pippa supporting her dress
With his own no-nonsense ‘I will’, Prince William opened a new royal epoch, happily reuniting the Monarchy with those powerful memories of his late mother, all of it in front of half the planet.
Prior to this moment, the most-watched event in British history – perhaps in world history – had been her funeral here 14 years before. How many billions were watching now over supper in Sydney or breakfast in Ottawa; how many eyes prickling, throats tightening as that bravest of adolescent mourners now returned as the happiest man in the land?
The sense of a turning tide was as inescapable as Low Water on the Anglesey shoreline.
In the annals of our 1000-year-old Monarchy, this was a very good day. In the annals of the House of Windsor (created: 1917), it was a very great one.
Speculation is focused on where the royal couple will spend their honeymoon, due to start today.
Sources have privately confirmed the obvious: William and Kate will holiday ‘somewhere hot and sunny’ where they can ‘relax completely and privately’ for two weeks.
Mustique is the odds-on favourite for their romantic getaway. Kate’s family visit the private Caribbean island regularly, and she and William have spent several romantic breaks snorkelling, jetskiing and sunning themselves there.
Another favoured destination is a nostalgic but relatively public sight-seeing tour of Jordan, where Kate lived as a toddler. King Abdullah II is rumoured to have offered the use of his lavish private summer palace in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba.
But a brief sojourn at a UK destination has not been ruled out. A few days in Balmoral, Scotland, would follow in the footsteps of William’s father, who spent both his honeymoons there.
Another mooted destination is Kenya, where William proposed. He has often said his heart is in Africa and he also spent his gap year in Kenya. Tanzania, the Seychelles, Australia, or a cruise have also been suggested as likely choices.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William wave to the vast crowds as they travel to Buckingham Palace in a 1902 State Landau
The royal carriage glides past the deep crowds after the Royal Wedding at Westminster Abbey today
William and his wife Kate wave to onlookers as they leave Westminster Abbey after the wedding
Royal reception: The Queen arrives at Buckingham Palace, left, after the wedding. Right, Kate's engagement and wedding rings on her finger
Buckingham Palace: Helped by her new husband, Catherine steps out of the carriage as it arrives at the Palace. Minutes later they shared their first kiss on the balcony
Thousands of people wave Union Jacks as the couple are taken to Westminster Abbey in their open-topped carriage. An estimated one million people lined the streets
The Victoria Memorial outside the Palace is filled with well-wishers celebrating the wedding
Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, emerge from the church after the wedding ceremony with Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton in the background
An estimated 10,000 people were packed into Trafalgar Square to watch the ceremony on a giant screen
Guests gaily tested the patience of the Abbey ushers as they kept leaping out of their seats to ‘Mwa-Mwa’ or shake hands with an old chum from the Army or St Andrews or a royal charity.
At one point, there was aisle gridlock. I spotted Earl Spencer trying to lead a trio of young Spencer belles through a yacking standstill, his path blocked by people shaking hands with the film director, Guy Ritchie, and the Lord Great Chamberlain, the Marquess of Cholmondeley. Progressing through the throng beneath a blue 45-degree Philip Treacy hat was It-girl and royal chum, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, escorted by her novelist sister, Santa, and historian brother-in-law, Simon Sebag-Montefiore.
Morning coats were the general order of the day, regardless of an invitation offering a ‘lounge suit’ option. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, declared that he had rented his from Moss Bros – suggesting that he must have lost or outgrown the tails he wore for five years at Eton.
Prince William greets Australia's Prime Minister Julia
Gillard and her partner Tim Mathieson at Buckingham Palace in London after his wedding to Catherine
Getty Images PICS: Newlyweds William and Kate After the Wedding
NEW PHOTOS: Happy couple
Prince William and his new wife
Kate, now known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, walk the receiving line after their wedding ceremony, and are later spotted leaving
Prince Charles' residence, Clarence House, between wedding receptions.
Kate, who has been given the title The Duchess of Cambridge, meets Governors-General and prime ministers at Buckingham Palace
The Royal Family has acquired a new recruit capable of great grace and poise under the most extreme pressure imaginable. What’s a garden party – or even a State Opening – after that 318ft walk to the Abbey altar?
What is a plaque-unveiling or a state visit after getting ‘William Arthur Philip Louis’ crystal clear, unquavering and in the right order?
Prince William, likewise, showed supreme unflappability as he gently fought with an obstreperous band of Welsh gold, as he proudly steered his future Queen into the daylight before a dazzled world already running out of superlatives.
Vast crowds gather along The Mall and around the Queen Victoria Memorial as the Royal Air Force perform a fly over as Catherine and William share a kiss on the balcony
A Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster from the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight fly over Buckingham Palace as William and Kate emerge on the balcony
Salute to their friend: A Sea King helicopter hovers above the Victoria Memorial as Prince William drives his wife in the Aston Martin to Clarence House
Lip-reading viewers may have spotted what happened next. ‘Are you happy?’ asked the new Duchess of Cambridge as they climbed into the State Landau. ‘It was amazing, amazing,’ replied the Duke. ‘I am so proud you’re my wife.’
The most striking aspect of the whole occasion was the simplest of the lot: the sight of two people so confident and comfortable with each other that you can already hear them finishing each other’s sentences. They were even doing it on the Palace balcony. ‘Are you ready?’ asked Prince William. ‘Okay, let’s ...’ She finished that one with a kiss.
Westminster Abbey began the day with the flavour of a rather grand country wedding – lots of intergalactic hats, handsome chaps in uniform and exuberant flowers, all capped by several maples and hornbeams from the Highgrove garden. Trees in the Abbey? ‘Unheard of’, said one orderly. Yet also inspired.