Crowds gather along route as Royal Wedding just moments away

Thousands of people have camped out overnight on the procession route the couple will take to Buckingham Palace.

The couple are to brave the risk of showers and use an open-topped 1902 State Landau carriage for the procession after the service.
It is the carriage in most general use at Buckingham Palace and is often used by the Queen to meet visiting foreign heads of states.

Weather reports say the day will start off dry but cloudy in London and there is a risk of heavy showers developing later on.

While the bride’s wedding dress has been kept tightly under wraps, the prince will wear the red tunic of an Irish Guards colonel - his most senior honorary appointment.

Royal watchers consider Prince William's choice of a military uniform for his wedding as something of a surprise, as many had predicted he would wear his blue flight lieutenant's uniform.

However, as an honorary colonel of the Irish Guards infantry regiment, he has opted to wear the red tunic and forage cap, fitted by military and civilian tailors Kashket and Partners.

Yesterday night, Prince William went on an impromptu walkabout to meet royal watchers who had thronged to The Mall, near the palace.

He spent several minutes shaking hands, chatting and posing for pictures telling well-wishers: "All I've got to do is get the lines right."

The prince spent Thursday evening with the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry, while Miss Middleton and her family gathered at the Goring Hotel, in Belgravia, a short distance from Westminster Abbey.

An estimated 3,000-5,000 people had been camping overnight in The Mall and around Westminster Abbey. More than 600,000 are expected to line the streets by the time of the service. About two square miles of central London have been closed to traffic.

Scotland Yard says 5,000 officers will be on duty, with more than 900 along the wedding route. Most will be in uniform, but some will be in plain clothes, mixing with the crowd.

Over 5,500 street parties are taking place all over the UK - including one hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron at Downing Street and another by the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic.

Inside Westminster Abbey itself, six field maples and two hornbeams will line the aisle leading up to the altar.

The Archbishop of Canterbury will conduct the wedding ceremony, which will see Miss Middleton vow to "love, comfort, honour and keep" Prince William, but not to obey him.

The couple have chosen royal warrant holders Wartski to make the wedding ring for Miss Middleton. Following a long tradition of royal weddings, it has been fashioned by the Bangor-founded firm from Welsh gold given to Prince William by the Queen.

In a message in their official wedding programme released on Thursday, the royal couple said: "We are both so delighted that you are able to join us in celebrating what we hope will be one of the happiest days of our lives.

"The affection shown to us by so many people during our engagement has been incredibly moving, and has touched us both deeply."
The bride will walk up the aisle to coronation anthem I Was Glad, by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, from Psalm 122.

It was composed for the crowning of Prince William's great-great-great grandfather, Edward VII, at Westminster Abbey in 1902.