Facts about the Royal Wedding

London is gearing up for the hordes of tourists expected to show up for the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton on April 29.

Don't have a hotel room booked for the big event? Then don't bother showing up. Just about every hotel in the British capital is booked the weekend of the wedding.

VisitBritain, the British tourist authority, is estimating hundreds of thousands of foreigners will book passage and line the wedding route for the biggest event in London since the wedding of William’s father Prince Charles to the late Princess Diana.

Visitors are expected to give the sluggish British economy a $1 billion jolt thanks to Will & Kate Inc.

And over a billion people worldwide will watch the wedding on TV and London police are expecting upwards of 1 million people to line the wedding route.

Others facts and news I dug up about the Royal Wedding:

*When Kate walks down the aisle she will be the oldest Royal bride to get married;

*At the Royal Couple’s press conference Kate indicated that she would like to be called by her given name ‘Catherine’, rather than Kate;

*Prince William’s nickname in college was “P-Willy”;

*If Prince William had chosen to marry before his 25th birthday he would have required the consent of his grandmother, the Queen;

*The Royal Crown Derby porcelain factory, which was on the verge of closing thanks to slow sales and a change in casual dining habits, is back in business thanks to the Royal Wedding. The company, the official maker of Will and Kate memorabilia that has the blessing of Buckingham Palace, has ramped up production of such things as commemorative plates and taken on 150 new workers to keep up with global demand.

*Westminster Abbey, where the couple will take their vows, was not where Prince Charles married Princess Diana in 1981 – that honour went to St. Paul's Cathedral down the street. However, Westminster Abbey was the venue for the funeral service of Diana in September 1997 just days after she was killed in a car crash in Paris.

*Someone wondered if, when he becomes king, Prince William will be called William the Conqueror after one of his ancient predecessors. When he ties the knot with Kate, I think he should be called “William the Conquered.”