Wedding Bells in the UK

LONDON—The biggest British wedding in 30 years was picture perfect April 29 as Prince William married longtime girlfriend Katherine Middleton. Amazing numbers not fortunate enough to be invited still wanted to see the spectacular event.

A million people gathered along the route to wave and cheer as the royal procession went by! A half million of them waited for hours outside the gates of Buckingham Palace just to witness the married couple’s first kiss on the balcony. After an uninspired first kiss, the two thrilled the crowd with a better second one. Worldwide, 2 billion watched the CEREMONY on TV, with about 24 million of those watching in the UK.

William, the oldest son of Prince Charles, is in line to be the king of England, and Katherine would be the queen.

Before the wedding, Queen Elizabeth II conferred the title of Duke of Cambridge upon William, her grandson. And by marriage, Katherine becomes the Duchess of Cambridge, although the groom would like people to call them Prince William and Princess Katherine.

Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy, which means it has a queen. Although the queen does not wield the power monarchs did in Great Britain’s past, she is still very important to the British—her face is on their paper money and coins.

In the United States we elect a president and members of Congress. In Great Britain, citizens elect representatives to the House of Commons. But they also have the House of Lords, whose members are born to that position by being part of the nobility class.

Great Britain’s leader, who is elected, is called the prime minister. Citizens don’t vote for the prime minister—they vote for his or her party instead. The prime minister represents the party that received the most votes in the House of Commons. David Cameron of the Conservative Party is the current prime minister.