Royal wedding schedule: Minute by minute timetable

8.15am The general congregation begins to arrive at the Great North Door of Westminster Abbey.Guests include members of Kate’s extended family, the couple’s university and school friends and relatives of William’s army pals killed in combat.

Celebrities including David and Victoria Beckham, Sir Elton John, Ben Fogle and wife Marina, Guy Ritchie and Joss Stone also arrive. Locals from Kate’s village and staff from the holiday island of Mustique have also been invited.

9.50am Prime ministers and governors-general of Commonwealth countries and diplomats arrive.

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, Foreign Secretary William Hague and his wife Ffion, Labour Leader Ed Miliband and his fiancee Justine Thornton arrive at the Abbey.

10.10am Prince William and best man Prince Harry leave Clarence House for Westminster Abbey.

10.15am Prince William and Prince Harry arrive at the Abbey.

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10.20am Foreign royalty arrive. These include Prince Felipe of Spain and wife Princess Letizia, the Sultan of Oman, the Sultan of Brunei, Prince Albert of Monaco and fiancee Charlene Wittstock, Sheikha Mozah of Qatar, the King of Tonga and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

10.20am Kate Middleton’s mother, Carole, and brother, James, 23, leave Goring Hotel for Westminster Abbey to arrive at 10.27am.

10.25am Junior royals such as Zara and Peter Phillips leave Buckingham Palace to arrive at 10.30am.

10.35am The Duke of York and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex and their son James, Viscount Severn, three and Princess Anne and Vice-Admiral Timothy Laurence set out to arrive at 10.40am.

10.38am Prince Charles and Camilla leave Clarence House to arrive at 10.42am.

10.40am Princes William and Harry spend time in St Edmund’s Chapel.

10.40am The Queen and Prince Philip leave Buckingham Palace. They are the last guests to arrive before the bridal party and will take their seats at 10.45am.

10.48am Maid of honour Pippa Middleton, 27, and bridesmaids and pages leave The Goring hotel for Westminster Abbey.

They are Margarita Armstrong-Jones, eight, Lady Louise Windsor, seven, Eliza Lopes, three, and Grace van Cutsem, three, and page boys Billy Lowther-Pinkerton, 10, and Tom Pettifer, eight. They arrive at Westminster Abbey at 10.55am.

10.51am Bride Kate Middleton and her dad Michael, leave The Goring hotel for Westminster Abbey. They will travel in the Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, that was attacked in student protests in December.

10.58am Princes William and Harry leave St Edmund’s Chapel and, the groom, William takes his place at the altar.

11.00am Kate Middleton arrives and walks down the aisle.

The service takes place as 1,900 guests inside the Abbey and two billion round the world watch.

Royal wedding: The full Order of Service

The couple are married by the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, with the service being led by the Dean of Westminster the Very Reverend John Hall.

Prince Charles’s friend, the Bishop of London Richard John Carew Chartres, will give the address.

The Chapel Royal Choir and The Choir of Westminster Abbey will sing and The London Chamber Orchestra and the fanfare team from the Central Band of the RAF provide the music.

The service will be played on loudspeakers lining the route and shown on screens in Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square.

12.15pm William and Kate leave for Buckingham Palace in the 1902 State Landau coach unless it rains in which case they will travel in the Glass Coach. They will be escorted by nine grey horses.

Behind will be two Ascot Landaus carrying best man Harry, chief bridesmaid Pippa and other bridesmaids and page boys.

The fourth carriage will be a Semi-State Landau carrying the Queen and Prince Philip, and the fifth is the same carrying Prince Charles, Camilla and the Middletons.

12.30pm Procession arrives at Buckingham Palace.

12.40pm Members of the Royal Family and members of foreign royal families arrive at Buckingham Palace.

1.25pm Kate and William appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony where they are expected to kiss. They are joined by their families.

1.30pm A fly-past by the Royal Air Force and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

1.30pm The newlyweds are joined by 650 of their friends and family, representatives of William’s charities and official guests for a Buckingham Palace reception hosted by the Queen.

Guests enjoy canapes, champagne and wine in the palace’s 19 state rooms and tuck into the two wedding cakes, a three-tiered fruit cake by Fiona Cairns and a McVitie’s chocolate biscuit cake specially requested by William.

3.30pm Guests begin to leave and William and Kate get some private time. The Queen and Prince Philip leave the palace to younger guests.

5.00pm Kate’s parents Carole and Michael host a party at The Goring hotel for friends invited to the wedding but not the palace receptions. Guests enjoy a barbecue.

7.00pm Prince Charles hosts a dinner for 300 close friends and family.

Guests include Holly Branson and fiance Fred Andrews, Ben Fogle and wife Marina, William’s friends Tom Van Straubenzee, Harry Meade and Guy Pelly.

Guests enjoy a three-course meal followed by dancing into the early hours.

Kate and William will spend the night together in the palace’s Belgian Suite.

6.00am (the next day) Prince Harry hosts a “survivors” breakfast for any party-goers who are still awake.

Royal wedding: The full Order of Service