Royal wedding: Is Prince William’s stag do this weekend?

Well that’s what some chatty internet gossips are saying.
According to Us Weekly, the Prince will be celebrating the end of single life before he ties the knot with Kate Middleton on 29 April this very weekend, a source dished, “It's top, top secret but the dates have been marked off in the diary and security knows every detail. For privacy reasons we can't reveal locations, but there will be plenty of booze and some legendary activities.”
So who’s in charge of organising these legendary “activities”? Best man Prince Harry has – according to sources – played his part in giving his big brother a big send off into married life.  Although it sounds as if Harry is using the stag as an excuse for his own last night of fun, “This is his [Prince Harry’s] last weekend before he starts his North Pole trek on 29 March, so he's helped out with a lot of the planning."
The mind boggles at what Harry has planned for Wills. Will it be Strippers and Jägerbombs for the Princes and their posh pals, or will the boys be doing something more royal like shooting and Champagne quaffing? Let’s face it, we’ll probably see pictures of the two Princes stumbling of Mahiki in the tabloid this week – if the stag rumours are in fact true.

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Russell Brand Wants to Crash Royal Wedding as Queen Elizabeth

RUSSELL BRAND WANTS TO CRASH ROYAL WEDDING AS QUEEN ELIZABETH
Russell Brand wants to crash the royal wedding disguised as Queen Elizabeth.

Although the madcap comedian hasn't been invited to the nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 24, he plans to attend dressed as the 84-year-old British monarch.

He joked: "I'm not invited. I'm going anyway though. I'm going to dress up as the queen. I'm going to say [puts on female voice], 'Hallo, I'm the queen. Happy wedding day William and Kate. Do it baby, kiss, kiss.'"

The 35-year-old funnyman - who is married to Katy Perry - even went on to describe how he would eventually reveal himself to be a man in his bizarre fantasy scenario.

In a TV interview with "Access Hollywood," he added: "Then I'll lift my skirt and I'll have no underwear on and everyone will go, 'The Queen's willy!' Get your laughing gear round that."

It's not the first time Russell - who is from Essex, South East England - has revealed his interest in the royal family, with the "Arthur" once admitting during a radio interview that he would love a title.

He said: "I'd like to be royal. I sometimes think, 'I'd like to marry into the royals.' It would be fun wouldn't it to be a little bit royal? I think I'd fit right in there, they're a lovely bunch."

"I'd like an honorary princehood or dukedom, or some sort of recognition from the royals for what I've done for them over the years."

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UK's Royal Mint produces royal wedding coin (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain's Royal Mint has produced an official coin to commemorate next month's wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton.

The 5 pound ($8.14) coin -- which will cost collectors 9.99 pounds to purchase and features an image of the couple in profile -- has been approved by William, Queen Elizabeth and the government.

The Royal Mint said the coin, designed by Mark Richards, a Fellow at the Royal Society of British Sculptors, was due to become legal tender on March 16.

"Public interest in this great event is already huge, and building every day, so we are anticipating massive demand for these official commemorative coins," the Royal Mint said on its website.

Last December, the Royal Mint produced its first ever royal engagement coin to mark the couple's marriage announcement, but it was met with criticism and derision from royal watchers who said the depiction of Middleton bore little resemblance to her.

(Reporting by Michael Holden, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Britain unveils royal wedding coin (AFP)

LONDON (AFP) – The official coin for Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding on April 29 was unveiled Thursday, showing the couple's profiles on one side with Queen Elizabeth II's image on the reverse.

The £5 ($8, five-euro) commemorative coin published by the Royal Mint bears a simple text, "William and Catherine, 29 April 2011", and shows the couple looking at each other in profile.

According to the artist's impression of the coin, which the prince has approved, Kate, 29, is smiling naturally, showing her teeth, with her long hair covering her ears, while William, 28, has his mouth slightly open.

In December when it issued a commemorative coin for the couple's engagement, the Royal Mint attracted criticism that it was unflattering to Kate. One commentator suggested she had the "flattened features of a pugilist."

"The official UK royal wedding coin has been designed by Mark Richards, a fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors," said a spokeswoman, adding that he had been chosen after an invitation-only tender process.

The Royal Mint advisory committee, which is made up of experts in art, design, history and heraldry, selected the design and it was then sent to William for approval.

"With Prince William's full approval received, the coin design was submitted to the chancellor (finance minister) and finally to Her Majesty The Queen for approval," she said.

Although the coin has a value of £5 it costs £9.99 to buy and is available to pre-order from the Royal Mint website. It will receive final legal approval on March 16, at which point it will pass into production.

"Public interest in this great event is already huge, and building every day, so we are anticipating massive demand for these official commemorative coins," said a statement on the Royal Mint's website.

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ITV secures Royal Variety rights

21 February 2011 Last updated at 16:46 GMT Take That performed at last year's Royal Variety Performance, which was screened on BBC One ITV has won the rights to broadcast the Royal Variety Performance for the next 10 years, it has been announced.

Production of the event has been shared between the BBC and ITV, with its main channels broadcasting the event on alternate years since 1986.

ITV will now show it exclusively through to 2021, with ITV Studios producing the coverage.

The two most recent shows, shown on BBC One and ITV1, attracted audiences of 8.9m and 9.6m viewers respectively.

ITV won the rights from the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund (EABF), which benefits from the annual fundraising event.

"We can look forward to the future with renewed confidence and financial security for the next 10 years," said Laurie Mansfield, the EABF's honorary life president.

The deal also deepens the relationship the EABF has with ITV, which currently provides the winner of Britain's Got Talent to the event each year.

ITV Studios managing director Kevin Lygo said: "It's an honour for ITV Studios to produce coverage of one of the most prestigious television events of the year.

"We are thrilled to be part of the long tradition of celebrating the very best of the entertainment industry."

The EABF is a charity which cares for entertainers throughout the UK who need help and assistance as a result of old age, ill-health or hard times.

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Royal Snub: No Wedding Invite for Sarah Ferguson?

While the groom's first cousins, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenia, will be VIP guests at Prince William and Kate Middleton's April 29 nuptials, their mother -- the Duchess of York -- won't be included in any royal wedding festivities.

Why the snub? Sarah Ferguson, 51, was married for a decade to Prince Andrew (Prince William's paternal uncle) until her tabloid-mocked infidelities led to divorce in 1996; the exes quietly went on to raise their daughters as single parents. Last year, a mortifying undercover sting caught Sarah soliciting bribe money to "open doors" to her influential ex. The shamed royal will soon attempt image rehab with a new reality series, 'Finding Sarah,' on Oprah Winfrey's OWN channel.

But with 1,900 royal invitations being dispatched around the world for what could be the most expensive wedding ever, is the duchess appalled at being left out? According to People.com, her rep confirms that Ferguson plans to be overseas in late April, and calls the snub no surprise: "She will not be attending. She never expected to be invited."

Perhaps the Duchess of York's absence suits the Palace because the Windsors want all eyes focused on one thing: William and Kate's young love. It's the very thing the happy-go-lucky bride Sarah and her Prince Andrew were once celebrated for (before their shocking split) -- a glamorous, untainted-by-scandal storybook romance.

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Duchess Fergie Is Not Invited to the Royal Wedding

(from left) Sarah Ferguson, Kate Middleton and Prince William

Charles Eshelman/Getty, Tim Rooke/REX

As 1,900 invitations to Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding make their way to invited guests across the U.K. and the world, one famous former member of the royal family won't be getting one.

The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, is to be absent from the April 29 nuptials, PEOPLE has confirmed.

?Fergie, 51, will be overseas, her representative says, though she was not anticipating being invited in any case. "She will not be attending. She never expected to be invited," the spokesman says.

?But her daughters, Princess Beatrice, 22, and Princess Eugenie, 20, are expected to attend the ceremony along with friends of the couple, dignitaries, members of other royal families and representatives from charities associated with the prince.

Despite being contacted by media around the world, the Duchess has turned down all offers connected with the wedding itself. "She has declined all commercial work relating to the wedding," the spokesman says.

Instead, Fergie has been making a special documentary for Oprah Winfrey's new network, OWN, which will air later this year.

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It's Official: Royal Wedding Invitations in the Mail

By Simon Perry and Stephen M. Silverman

Friday February 18, 2011 12:20 PM EST

Prince William and Catherine Middleton's engagement portrait

Copyright 2010 Mario Testino

Check that post box: The invitations to the April 29 wedding of William and Kate are in the mail.

A palace source confirms to PEOPLE that on Thursday the invitations began leaving the office of the Lord Chamberlain – the man entrusted with seeing the cards get to the right people.

"They're in the process of being sent out," says the source.

As the deliveries started to go into effect, a charity bash in London was drawing a crowd from the wedding party's circle, including best-man-to-be Prince Harry's on-off girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

Also making the scene at royal pal Guy Pelly's new club Public: William and Harry's cousins Beatrice and Eugenie, along with the bride-to-be's sister Pippa (just named maid of honor), newly engaged Holly Branson and some of William's closest friends like Tom van Straubenzee and his brother Charlie.

"They all looked happy and excited at the prospect of the evening and the coming months," a bystander tells PEOPLE.

As the Duchess of York, in her chauffeur-driven Bentley, dropped off daughter Eugenie, 20, she told onlookers that she was happy to leave the revelry to the younger set.

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