Flags bearing the image of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
On Saturday morning, Prince Harry wed U.S. actress and activist, Meghan Markle in a wedding estimated to cost, in total, more than $40 million.
The big picture: The average wedding in Britain comes out to under $40,000, CNBC reports. But this is no average wedding, with almost $700,000 spent on food and drinks alone.
The royal wedding, by the numbers:
- Around 600 guests were invited to the service on Saturday, per The Sun.
- 2,640 other guests — members of the public — have been invited to participate in the celebration on Windsor grounds.
- Meghan's ring weighs an estimated 6.5 carats, Time reports.
- If the ring has perfect diamonds, it could cost between $300,000-$350,000. If the diamonds used are mid-range, it's likely closer to $35,000-$40,000.
- $3.5 million is being spent by the municipal government in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to clean up litter, "pigeon-proofing statues and fixing potholes in the borough's roads, among others things," CNN reports.
- More than 100,000 people will be in Windsor, the New York Post's Page Six reports.
- Over 30,000 signatures are on a petition demanding that the government disclose how much taxpayer money is being put towards the event, CNBC reports.
- There has been a 50% surge in searches for trips to London between May 11 and May 21, per Time.
- Locals are trying to get out: there was a 98% surge in searches for trips out out London.
- Hotel prices in Windsor are up 11%; towns in the surrounding area saw a 45% spike in searches.
- The first ever African-American presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church will be giving the address at the wedding, Michael Bruce Curry from Chicago.