Royal Wedding

When Catherine Middleton walked down the aisle of Westminster Abbey on Friday — a willowy vision in white — she appeared noticeably thinner than she had in previous months. Her weight loss sparked rumors that she was on the Dukan diet — what appears to be a French spin on the high-protein Atkins diet — after Middleton's mother, Carole, acknowledged using the plan to shed pre-wedding pounds. Suddenly, the diet that sold 4 million copies in France was making headlines in the States, with its promise of instant weight loss without hunger, portion control or counting calories.

With the royal wedding over, there's much conjecture about where the honeymooners will go. Check out "Where are William and Kate headed?" at the Ministry of Gossip . I’m thinking the West offers a nice mix of stunning scenery and offbeat options. Here are my picks for fitting honeymoon stops for the royal couple -- easily duplicated by mere commoners: Go faux: A bit of Britain in the Arizona desert? That’s the promise of London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Friday. Casey Abrams has been eliminated from "American Idol. " Long live Casey! ( Los Angeles Times ) The royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton is over, but the royal wedding coverage is not. Long live escapism! ( Los Angeles Times ) Steve Carell has left "The Office. " Long live Dunder Mifflin! ( CNN ) "Fast Five" is ready to add some high-octane fuel -- or whatever other car metaphor you'd like -- to the box office.

If a single prince is in want of a wife, no one puts on a better show than the British when he finally gets one. That truth was universally acknowledged Friday when William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor, second in line to the British throne, married Catherine Elizabeth Middleton, his college sweetheart, in a ceremony dripping with tradition and sparkly jewels. The couple exchanged vows in the soaring Gothic interior of Westminster Abbey before 1,900 guests, including more than 40 crowned heads and scores of dignitaries and celebrities.

Some wore T-shirts blazoned with the words "Off with their Heads. " Others favored phrases such as "Citizens not Subjects" or "England doesn't need a Queen. " Amid the huge outpouring of royalist support and fervor around Britain as a potential future king of England and his bride exchanged wedding vows Friday was the smaller voice of naysayers far less impressed by the idea of celebrating kings, queens, dukes and duchesses. In London, in a corner of central Red Lion Square a short distance from, but out of sight and sound of, the cheering crowds around Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, the group called Republic held the main anti-monarchy street celebration: Not the Royal Wedding.

After weeks of speculation that at times verged on the absurd, Catherine Middleton emerged Friday for her wedding in a gown by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. The gown is classic-looking, in silk gazar with long intricate lace sleeves, and it will probably be a force of pop culture for years to come, influencing fashion trends and reinforcing the sociological significance of the white wedding gown. "We knew she would wear something classic, but having Sarah Burton as the designer added something modern," said Darcy Miller, editorial director of Martha Stewart Weddings magazine.

I wish Diana, the Princess of Wales, were around to see the royal wedding of her son, Prince William, to Kate Middleton. Mostly because I just wish Diana were still around. Those of us who are of her generation already went through this ritual once — the early rising or late-staying-up to watch her wedding 30 years ago, the one that turned out to be a fairy tale without a happy ending. We saw the signs but, like Diana herself, tried to ignore them. We remember the way she smiled so expectantly and hopefully at Charles on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the wedding.

Not one, but two relationships have been making front-page headlines here in Britain this week, and they couldn't be more different. The first is of a handsome young couple (yes, that one) on the verge of tying the knot before an audience of millions, whose courtship and wedding plans have been pored over by hundreds of overexcited news organizations that consider no detail too trivial for publication or broadcast. The second is an extramarital affair between one of Britain's most respected TV journalists and an unidentified colleague.

In a ceremony steeped in tradition and symbolism, Prince William, the second in line to the British throne, married his longtime girlfriend, Kate Middleton, on Friday amid an outpouring of joy and patriotism here and before a potential worldwide audience of two billion people who tuned in on television and the Internet. The couple exited historic Westminster Abbey as husband and wife shortly after noon, following a wedding service presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury and executed with military precision, with Middleton's grand entrance, the singing of hymns and the exchange of vows planned down to the last minute.