Britain is preparing itself for the biggest royal event for 30 years, the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, set to take place tomorrow, April 29, in Westminster Abbey. Around the world, 2 billion people are expected to watch the eldest son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana tie the knot. Royal enthusiasts are arranging parties and camping out on the pavement along the procession route, hoping for a view. Both the bride's and groom's families have been busy for months now, along with the government, readying everything from security and crowd control to gowns and wedding cakes. Collected here are scenes from the preparations for tomorrow's royal wedding.
Royal Wedding: The UK Gets Ready
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Guardsman Bortnill St Ange is measured for his uniform by master Tailor Lance Sergeant Matthew Else at Victoria barracks in Windsor, England, on April 21, 2011. Irish Guards soldiers who have recently returned from Afghanistan are preparing for ceremonial duties as the Queens Guards ahead of the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011. Prince William is the Colonel of the Irish Guards. #
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Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton pass Sir Menzies Campbell, Chancellor of the University of St. Andrews, as they arrive in the Quadrangle during a visit to the university, in St. Andrews, Scotland, where they first met, Friday February 25, 2011. #
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Carriage restorer Dave Evans cleans the 1902 State Landau carriage at the Royal Mews in central London, Monday March 21, 2011. The coach will be used to carry Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton on their wedding day, Friday April 29, 2011, if the weather is good. If the weather is inclement then the 1881 Glass Coach, traditionally used to transport Royal brides, will be used instead. #
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Farrier Lance Corporal of Horse Chris McCabe fashions a horse shoe during a media event at the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment's Hyde Park barracks in London, Friday, April, 15, 2011. The mounted regiment will provide close the escort for the major members of the British Royal family during the upcoming Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. #
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British Union Jack flags are pictured on London's Regent Street on April 20, 2011, in preparation for the royal wedding between Britain's Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011. #
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Fitter Michael Killian (right) puts the finishing touches onto a pair of colored brick murals featuring the faces of Britain's Prince William and Catherine Middleton near Sydney on April 28, 2011. The two 100 meter square brick murals, which contain 8,300 bricks and 7,500 half bricks of different shades, will stay in place for three months to celebrate the royal wedding in London. #
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Australian television personality Barry Humphries, also known as "Dame Edna Everage" addresses a television camera outside Buckingham Palace in London, on April 27, 2011. #
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Contestants take part in a Prince William and Catherine Middleton lookalike competition organized by the airline Easyjet on April 27, 2011 in London, England. The contestants from across Europe were judged on their hand waving, bowing and curtsying skills as well as their looks. #
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A decorative rose is prepared for Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding cake, in Fleckney, central England, on March 24, 2011. Cake designer Fiona Cairns has been commissioned by Prince William and Kate Middleton to create the cake for their wedding. The cake will be a multi-tiered traditional fruit cake, decorated with a floral theme. #
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Larry, the 10 Downing Street cat, walks on the cabinet table wearing a British Union Jack bow tie ahead of the Downing Street street party, in central London, on April 28, 2011. Downing Street will hold a street party tomorrow to celebrate the royal wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey. #
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Royal supporters Susanna Brockman, left, from Maryland, US, Chelsea Spence and Jessica Spence, right, from Zimbabwe show their T-shirts on the pavement near Westminster Abbey in London, Thursday, April 28, 2011. #
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As part of the preparations for the upcoming royal wedding between Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton, a British Army tailor, right, adjusts uniforms for British Army's Foot Guards of the Household Division, in their barracks near Buckingham Palace, central London, Wednesday, April 20, 2011. #
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A workman cleans the fountains in the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace on April 27, 2011 in London, England, with two days to go before the Royal Wedding. #
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Masks of Britain's Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton are loaded into boxes for shipping at a production plant in Southam, central England, April 22, 2011. Over 120,000 of the masks have been sold worldwide with Mask-arade company staff working around the clock to complete orders before the royal wedding. #
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College students are silhouetted as they dance a "Sundance" in front of Westminster Abbey in London, Wednesday, April 27, 2011. With their dance they pray for sunny weather on on Friday, April 29, when Prince William and Kate Middleton are due to get married. #
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The White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace, London, seen on March 25, 2011. The White Drawing Room is one of the rooms used during the wedding reception of Prince William and Kate Middleton. #
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Visitor guide PC World and school teacher Mrs Griffiths begin preparing the streets of the Black Country Living Museum for it's Royal Wedding Street party on April 22, 2011 in Dudley, England. The popular attraction is joining the festivities across the country with a street party in traditional style to celebrate the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on April 29, 2011. #
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A TV presenter reports from the Mall as British Union Jack flags hang in the street for the upcoming royal wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton, in central London, on April 27, 2011. #
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Tourists watch and take pictures of British Army's Foot Guards of the Household Division, not seen, at their barracks, preparing to march for the Changing of the Guard in nearby Buckingham Palace, central London, Wednesday, April 20, 2011. #
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Westminster Bridge is empty of traffic as road closures take effect during a military dress rehearsal for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on April 27, 2011 in London, England. #
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A photograph of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton stands beside a photograph of Prince William's mother, the late Princess Diana, and a ceremonial skull used during a ritual by Peruvian shamans on La Herradura beach in Lima, Peru, Wednesday April 27, 2011. The ceremony was held to send good luck and fortune to the couple for their upcoming wedding. #
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A set of commemorative Pez candy dispensers, to celebrate the wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton, is pictured at the Pez headquarters in Traun, Austria, on March 30, 2011. The dispensers will be auctioned on the Internet to raise money for a charity to be determined by the royal couple. #
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A woman runs past Mexican teenager Estibalis Chavez posing with the portrait she painted of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton in central Madrid, Spain, on April 27, 2011. Chavez, who went on a hunger strike to try to get an invitation to Britain's royal wedding is now in Spain with little cash, even less time but plenty of determination to get to London for the big event on Friday after being turned away by British immigration officials because she could not provide an address to show where she would be staying in England and did not have the money for a hotel. #
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Members of the London Chamber Orchestra play during a rehearsal in at St John's Church in London April 26, 2011. The Orchestra will play during the wedding of Britain's Prince William and fiancee Kate Middleton in Westminster Abbey on Friday. #
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An offender, convicted of minor offenses, cleans a wall in a subway at Hyde Park Corner in London in preparation for the royal wedding as a community payback scheme run by Westminster Council and the London Probation Trust, Tuesday, April 5, 2011. #
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Members of the media wait outside Clarence House on the Mall for a sight of the Prince William or Catherine Middleton ahead of tomorrow's marriage ceremony in Westminster Abbey on April 28, 2011 in London, England. With less than 24 hours to go final preparations for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton are in place. #
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Two boys lie on the pavement outside Westminster Abbey in London April 28, 2011. Britain's Prince William will marry his fiancee Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29. #
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A Guardsman sits on his horse on Whitehall, in central London April 28, 2011. Hundreds of people have set up their tents along the route Prince William and his soon-to-be bride Kate Middleton will travel on their wedding day of April 29. #
Reuters/Nir Elias
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