IT is now just over 24 hours until the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Which means I can finally say that I will be one of the reporters inside Westminster Abbey tomorrow for the ceremony.
(Friday April 29 update: My royal wedding report from inside Westminster Abbey is here.)
And further update: They later sent me a slice of the wedding cake. Click here for more photos.
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Although the eyes of the world will be on the Service, this is a family wedding – not a State occasion.
So there will be just 28 reporters in total inside the Abbey, a much smaller number than usual for royal weddings.
We will be seated with the Diplomatic Corps in the South Transept, an area top right in the below photo.
Close to Poets’ Corner near the seats occupied by the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry, once he has completed his Best Man duties at William’s side.
A section of the Abbey usually mostly hidden from the television cameras, it is near to the seat I occupied when covering the Queen Mother’s funeral in 2002.
You can see the general South Transept / Poets’ Corner area in the still image below taken from the BBC 360 degree panorama here.
The camera itself is placed at the top of the Sacrarium steps, in the area where William and Kate will take their vows.
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As a young reporter I was lucky enough to be in the front row of history at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.
On that occasion, sat in media seats at St Paul’s Cathedral looking directly across at the couple as they took their vows.
I occupied a similar position at Westminster Abbey for Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997, witnessing the tears of both William and Harry that TV cameras were not allowed to show.
One of the saddest days of my reporting career.
And I was also in a similar place inside the Abbey for Prince Andrew’s wedding to Sarah Ferguson in 1986, six weeks after my own marriage.
I realise not everyone is a royal fan and some will have no interest in this whatsoever.
But if you are planning to watch on TV – or in person on the streets of London – I hope you have a wonderful day.
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As you would expect, the use of mobile phones is prohibited inside the Abbey during the Service, so I am not sure how much I will be able to tweet tomorrow.
But should you be so minded, you can follow me for the day here.
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I walked the royal wedding route yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon from Westminster Abbey to The Goring Hotel, where Kate will spend her last night tonight as a single woman.
The route took me via Parliament Square, Whitehall, Horseguards Parade, The Mall, Clarence House and Buckingham Palace – you can see some of my photos here.
Life of Wylie 