LONDON — Tina Lannin, a professional lip reader who was born deaf, caught the private whispers during the royal wedding that television microphones couldn’t capture.
Lannin, who has worked for 7 years as a forensic lip reader for police forces and media outlets with O’Malley Communications,
picked out comments from Prince William, his bride and Queen Elizabeth II in a partial transcript. Her assessment couldn’t be verified.
10:20 a.m. — Prince William: “Looking forward to it.” To Harry, “shall we go in then?
Prince Harry: “Sure, everyone has arrived.”
William (to Bishop): “Make sure everything’s all right. It’s beautiful the way it is.”
10:25 a.m. — William to lady in congregation: “You look very pretty, very pretty.”
10:55 a.m. — Michael Middleton to Kate Middleton as they left hotel: “You OK?”
11:00 a.m. — Pippa Middleton to sister Kate: “You look amazing.”
Michael Middleton to Kate Middleton as they entered Westminster Abbey: “You OK?”
Kate Middleton to her father: “Yeah.”
11:05 a.m. — Kate to Bishop before walking down the aisle: “Yes I suppose so … I expect I’ll be worn out today. Thank you.”
Harry to William: “Right, here she is now.”
William to Middleton at the altar: “You look lovely …(unclear)… You look beautiful.”
William joking to Michael Middleton: “We’re supposed to have just a small family affair.”
12:00 a.m. — Queen Elizabeth II to Prince Philip: “It was excellent.”
Prince Philip: “Yes?”
12:15 a.m. — William to Kate Middleton: “All right?”
Kate Middleton: “Yes.”
William: “Wish I was out.”
Kate Middleton: “I’m beginning to find (unclear).”
William: “Yeah, all right.” Hands bouquet to Kate after they climb aboard their carriage, “here you are.”
Kate Middleton: “Thank you.”
Kate Middleton: “Now, are you happy?”
William: “Yes … (unclear conversation) … wave to everybody.”
Outside abbey — queen: “I wanted them to take the smaller carriage.”
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: “It all went very well.”
Queen: “Very well.”
In wedding carriage — William: “I don’t think you should bow quite yet. I think you should just bow your head, OK?”
Kate Middleton: “OK.”
William: “I hope I remember … It’s mad, it’s mad! Oh my goodness it … really loudly here (unclear) these people are clapping.”
Kate Middleton: “Did they?”
William: “I think so. I went out here the first (unclear).”
In separate carriage — Prince Charles: “Yeah it looked nice.”
Camilla: “Yes, but you have to know how to do it.”
In wedding carriage — Kate Middleton to William: “You look happy.”
1:30 p.m — On Buckingham Palace balcony, Kate Middleton: “Oh, wow.”
William: “All right? You’ll be OK?”
Kate Middleton: “Oh I’m fine, thank you.”
William: “Yeah! Yeah! There’s a lot of people down here.” To pageboys, “I know but look up there as well.” To his bride: “OK? Look at me, let’s kiss, OK.”
William, shouting balcony: “Harry! Your go!”
Kate Middleton: “What’s next?”
William: “They want more time I think.”
William shouting across balcony, possibly to Camilla: “You could have brought up (unclear) as well.”
Camilla: “Oh, very heavy.”
William: “Just do a bit of everything. Do you like the balloons (unclear) they go up in the air.”
Kate Middleton: “Look at these people.”
William: “I want to see the plane, I think I’m (unclear).”
William to Harry: “OK.”
William to pageboys: “…to stop them coming in here, to stop them coming in this side, I mean it’s hard.”
William to Kate Middleton: “One more.” The couple kiss for a second time. “That’s it, come on!”
Britain sees electrical surge
The surge in electricity demand after the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton easily surpassed the impact of the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
The National Grid said it recorded a 2,400 megawatt jump in demand — equivalent to a million tea kettles being switched on — once the couple returned to Buckingham Palace on Friday. That compared to the 1,800 megawatt surge after the Charles-Diana wedding in 1981.
The National Grid said the effect measures when people forsake television for other tasks, including making tea, thus giving an idea of the size of the audience.
It was the fourth-largest surge recorded in Britain. The biggest was 2,800 megawatts after the penalty shoot-out for England’s World Cup semifinal against West Germany in 1990.
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