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ntnews.com.aul l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l SATURDAY EXTRA

Who foots the bill

A woman views Westminster Abbey, tippedto be the venue for the royal wedding

Prince William and Kate Middleton pose for photographs in the State Apartments of St JamesPalace in London Tuesday

A close up of Kate Middleton’s engage-ment ring

By JILL LAWLESS and ROBERT

BARR in London

I’d pay 50 pounds tops.

But if everyone did, it

would certainly help

IT’S a wedding planner’s night-mare. The nuptials of Prince Wil-liam and Kate Middleton have tosatisfy the bride’s family and thegroom’s royal relatives — but alsoa supportive but recession-wearyBritish public.

It must be grand, but not osten-tatious; regal, but with a commontouch; expensive but not a drainon taxpayers worried about jobsand the nation’s fragile economy.

‘‘I don’t even have enoughmoney for my own wedding, letalone theirs,’’ said Scott North-grave, 39, a London constructionworker. ‘‘They have a fortune,why not use it?’’

Who will foot the bill for thewedding, likely to be millions ofpounds, is still being worked out,but the royal family knows theymust not seem out of touch withthe public’s cash-strapped mood.William’s office says ‘‘the coupleare mindful of the current econ-omic situation’’.

Because William is second inline to the throne after his father,Prince Charles, the ceremony willnot be a formal state occasion like

the wedding of his grandmotherthe queen, then Princess Eliza-beth, in 1947, or of Charles to LadyDiana Spencer in 1981.

Both Elizabeth and Charleswere heirs to the British throne.

It will not lack in grandeur,however. Westminster Abbey isthe leading contender for a venueafter Kate was photographed leav-ing the central London landmarkon Wednesday evening.

‘‘Miss Middleton paid a short,private visit to Westminster Ab-bey in order to be able to considerit as an option,’’ William’s officesaid on Thursday. ‘‘The couplewish for a little more time to beable to consult family membersand make a decision themselves.’’

In many ways it is the perfectvenue. The 1000-year-old churchwhere British kings and queensare crowned is grand but homey,crowded with the tombs of poets,politicians and 17 monarchs.

It has happy and sad memoriesfor the royal family. The queenand her late mother both marriedthere, and Princes Diana’s funeralwas held there in 1997.

It can hold 2200 people — plentyof room for guests — and does notcost anything to book.

It is also likely to be available,since the list of people allowed tomarry there is limited to membersof the royal family, abbey staff andmembers of the ceremonial Orderof the Bath and their families.

Money for the festivities couldcome from the annual $A12.81million in government fundinggiven to the royal household forsalaries and official functions, orfrom the queen’s personal wealth.

Charles is expected to pay someof the bill, and Kate’s parents —self-made millionaires who run aparty-planning business — willprobably also help out.

Taxpayers will have to foot thebill for security, including thenumber of police on duty that day.

Further public funding wouldhave to be approved by Parliament

and could spark a backlash — alth-ough some Britons said they’d bewilling to contribute.

‘‘If everyone paid out maybe fiveor 10 pounds, just think how thatwould add up,’’ said retiree SusanDowling, 74.

‘‘I’m excited for this weddingand I’ll surely help out.’’

Julie Marks, a 25-year-old Lon-don chef, was also willing to chipin. ‘‘I’d pay 50 pounds tops,’’ shesaid. ‘‘But if everyone did, it wouldcertainly help.’’

Analysts say the wedding willbe an economic boon for Britain.

Neil Saunders, consulting direc-tor at Verdict retail analysts, saidthe economic kick from the wed-ding could reach $A1 billion.

‘‘If, as expected, it is a big set-piece event, it could well capturethe nation’s imagination and pro-vide a fillip (boost) to the retail sec-tor,’’ he said. Saunders said tour-ism would benefit most.

David Buik, market analyst atBGC Partners said he was ‘‘look-ing forward to the William andKate feel-good factor taking effecton our economy, morale’’.

In addition to an expected hotel,restaurant and retail boom fromtourists travelling to London for

the occasion, retailers are rushingto cash in Kate-and-Wills mer-chandise. Asda, Wal-Mart’s Brit-ish supermarket chain, tweetedglad tidings that a commemorat-ive mug would be available soonfor just $A8.11.

The royal wedding could alsohelp raise the spirits of a countrystill recovering from the worst ec-onomic downturn in half a cen-tury, and facing the unknown im-pact of deep spending cuts.

The queen’s wedding in 1947 lift-ed Britain’s post-war gloom andcame days after the governmentannounced a reduction in rations.

Her ceremony at WestminsterAbbey was described as simple:the same as for ‘‘any cottager get-ting married in her villagechurch’’, one of the priests said.

Well, except for the gilded car-riage and a 226kg wedding cake.

The spectacle of the hugely pop-ular Prince William marrying hisattractive down-to-earth bride alsoshould bolster a royal brand thathas been tarnished by divorce, sexscandals and financial indis-cretions. The royal family has be-come more conscious of its publicimage after the shocks and dra-matics of Charles’ generation.