So today is the day…The day we have all been waiting for. As I write this, Kate and William have just become Husband and Wife. They have said their vow in Westminster Abbey and waved to the crowd on Whitehall and the Mall. Kate is wearing a beautiful white lace dress, designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen. She is also wearing a tiara lent to her by the Queen. Kate and William will now be known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Everyone is now waiting for the happy couple to come out onto the Balcony of Buckingham Palace for that famous kiss! Today has been a day of British Pride and there are many street parties planned for the rest of the day around the country. Let the party commence!

1.The Rolls-Royce Phantom VI which Kate Middleton will take from the Goring Hotel to Westminster Abbey is the same Rolls Royce that was attacked by protesters in December.

2.On Friday there will be 5,000 policemen on duty, 8,000 foreign journalists and 1,000 British journalists capturing the Wedding.

3.The expected television audience is 2 billion with another 400 million watching online or listening to the radio.

4.It will take Kate 4 minutes to walk down the aisle.

5.There will be 5,500 street parties taking places across the UK.

6.William and Kate will be the ninth royal couple getting married at Westminster Abbey.

7.Famous attendees include: David and Victoria Beckham, Sir Elton John and Prince Albert of Monaco.

8.When Kate becomes Queen, she will be the first Queen with a university degree.

9.Kate and William are 15th cousins both being descended form Sir Thomas Fairfax.

10.19 state rooms will be made available for the Buckingham Palace reception.

With only 2 days to go until the event of the year, people have already started camp outside Westminster Abbey to make sure they get the best view on Friday. One of these people is a man called Terry Hutt. He has been camped outside the Abbey since Tuesday with his sleeping bag, food supplies and William and Kate memorabilia. Another fan camping outside is John Loughrey. He thinks that the Royal Family “are good for Britain and good for tourism. We have had them for more than 1,000 years and they make a great contribution to the life of this country.”

Over 600,00 people are expected to join Terry and John and line the streets of London, waving the Union Jack and sending their well wishes to the couple. The all important schedule of the day has been released, so if you want to join this what will be happening.

1010 – Prince William and Prince Harry leave Clarence House for Westminster Abbey.

1015 – Prince William and Prince Harry arrive at the Abbey.

1020 – Members of foreign royal families arrive at Westminster Abbey from Buckingham Palace. 1

020 – Kate Middleton’s mother, Carole, and brother, James, leave the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey.

1025 – Minor members of the Royal Family leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey.

1035 – The Duke of York and his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, leave for Westminster Abbey along with the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal and Vice-Admiral Timothy Laurence.

1038 – The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall leave Clarence House for Westminster Abbey. 1040 – The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey.

1048 – The bridesmaids and pages leave the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey.

1051 – The bride, accompanied by her father Michael, leaves the Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey.

1100 – The marriage service begins and is relayed by speakers along the route.

1215 – The carriage procession of the bride and bridegroom with a captain’s escort of the Household Cavalry, followed by the Queen’s procession with a sovereign’s escort of the Household Cavalry, leaves Westminster Abbey for Buckingham Palace.

1230 – The bride’s carriage procession arrives at Buckingham Palace.

1240 – Members of the Royal Family and members of foreign royal families arrive at Buckingham Palace.

1325 – The Queen and the bride and bridegroom, together with their families, appear on the balcony.

1330 – Fly-past by the Royal Air Force and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

We are UIC will be down at the Royal wedding so come and join us.

With a couple of days left until the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, many people have chosen to look back at the last major Royal Wedding. That between Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, the parents of Prince William.

Just like the Wedding on Friday, the Wedding between Charles and Diana was a major affair with many having fond memories of the day.

In 1981 over 600,00o people, including the present Prime Minister, David Cameron, lined the streets of London waiting to see a glimpse of Charles and his princess. Just like this year, the day was a national holiday. However their Wedding took place at St Paul’s Cathedral, not Westminster Abbey and was watched by over 750 million people across the world. It still holds the record as the most popular programme ever broadcast.

There were over 3,500 guests in the Cathedral who got to see Diana’s 7 meter train from her dress down the aisle. After the service, just like will happen on Friday, Charles and Diana went to the Balcony of Buckingham Palace, where they shared a kiss for the whole world to see.

Just like in 1981, the excitement in London and the whole country is reaching fever pitch. UIC will be having a lot of programmes to celebrate so if you studying English in London, come and join us.

With just a week until the Royal Wedding, London and the UK are getting ready for the biggest event this year, the British Royal Wedding. The flags are up in central London and the William and Kate mugs are on sale everywhere. And today, one of the last and probably most significant item of memorabilia goes of sale.

The Royal Mail have today released commemorative stamps to celebrate the big day. The stamps will be available across the UK and have been released on the same day as the Queens birthday.

The pictures used in the stamps were picked by William and Kate and include pictures taken by fashion and celebrity photographer Mario Testino. The photos where taken at St James Palace.

The demand for the stamps is expected to be rather large as the stamps will be wanted by stamp collectors and non collectors alike. This is the 3^rd time William has been on a stamp. The first was in celebration on the Queen Mother’s 100^th birthday and the second was in celebration of his 21^st birthday. He was the first member of the Royal Family to have stamps created for his 21^st birthday.

You can get either a first class for 46p or the new £1.10 royal wedding stamp covers the postage of letters and cards, weighing up to 20g, sent worldwide.

There are a load of Royal themed events at UIC this week and next so if you want more information just pop into reception.

On the 12^th April 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to travel into space and the first man to orbit the Earth. He was aboard the Vostok 3 KA-3. Yesterday in Moscow and across the world there were numberous celebrations to remember his great feat. The crew currently aboard the International Space station sent a video message to Earth, wishing everyone Happy Yuri’s Night.  Even Google has created a doodle in remembrance of Yuri.

The importance of Yuri’s trip is not to be underestimated. In 1961 there was there was huge space race between the Soviet Union and the USA and it meant a lot to the USSR to beat their American counterparts. American did however go on to put the first man on the moon.

However the admiration for Yuri was and still is universal. To many he was a symbol human progress.

When remembering his experience he said ‘The feeling of weightlessness was somewhat unfamiliar compared with Earth conditions. Here, you feel as if you were hanging in a horizontal position in straps. You feel as if you are suspended.’

And if you’d like to hear some information about Yuri in French (from 1961) have a listen to this podcast form our Radio Station – uicradio.com http://www.uiclondonradio.com/playpocast.php?id=68

Today – 1st April - is also better known throughout the world as April Fools Day.  The day is marked by tricks, hoaxes and all sorts of practical jokes which are played on friends, family members – or actually anyone you like or dislike! Just a bit or harmless fun.  The tradition can be traced back to the 14th century in the UK – some scholars have found a reference in Chaucer’s work. In the UK you are only supposed to play tricks on people until noon (12 o’clock) – and if you do one after that you are an April Fool! This is the same in Australia and South Africa. In other countries it is possible to play tricks all day – so you have to be a bit more careful in those countries.

Over the years there have been many famous pranks – and increasingly more and more tricks on the internet. See this link for the Independent’s story on the best Web based tricks. Tricks can be all sorts – from just telling people little ‘white’ lies  to huge elaborate hoaxes on TV. One of the most famous TV pranks in England was carried out in 1957 when the BBC news programme Panorama ran this story about spaghetti growing on trees – maybe it was believed by so many people just because it was on the BBC – everyone seemed to forget what day it was!

Watch the link here

Get in touch and let us know what your favourite trick is!