Ramping up to the royal wedding... an estimated 2 billion people around the world are expected to watch live as England's Prince William marries commoner Kate Middleton this Friday at Westminster Abbey. Tourists have flocked to London, decorations are appearing, commemorative memorabilia are for sale, and the armed services are preparing for their role in the big event.
1. A tourist holds a commemorative carrier bag in central London on April 23. With the royal wedding between Britain's Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton only days away, tourism in the Capital is enjoying a massive boost. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)
2. A worker cleans a lamp in front of Westminster Abbey in London. Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry at the abbey on April 29. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)
3. Guardsman Bortnill St. Ange is measured for his uniform by master tailor Lance Sergeant Matthew Else (left) at Victoria barracks in Windsor on April 21. Irish Guards soldiers who have recently returned from Afghanistan are preparing for ceremonial duties as the Queens Guards ahead of the royal wedding. Prince William is the colonel of the Irish Guards. (Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images)
4. As part of the preparations for the upcoming royal wedding, a British Army tailor, right, adjusts uniforms for British Army's Foot Guards of the Household Division, in their barracks near Buckingham Palace. (Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press)
5. Master tailor Lance Sergeant Matthew Else inspects the uniforms of members of the Irish Guards at Victoria Barracks in London on April 21. The Irish Guards returned from active duty in Afghanistan at the beginning of April, and are now preparing for ceremonial duties. Prince William is the colonel of the regiment. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
6. Girls pose with Union Jacks in front of Westminster Abbey in London on April 23. (Luke Macgregor/Reuters)
7. Visitor guides begin preparing the streets of the Black Country Living Museum for its royal wedding street party on April 22 in Dudley, England. The popular attraction is joining the festivities across the country to celebrate the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on April 29. The Black Country is so called because of the smoke and soot that lingered in the air during England's industrial powerhouse heyday. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
8. Face masks of Prince William and Kate Middleton are loaded into boxes for shipping at a production plant in Southam, England, on April 22. Over 120,000 of the masks have been sold worldwide with Mask-arade company staff working around the clock to complete orders before the wedding. (Martin Cleaver/Associated Press)
9. Carriage restorer Dave Evans cleans the Glass Coach at the Royal Mews in central London on March 21. The coach, which was built in 1881, will be used to carry Prince William and Kate Middleton in the event of bad weather on their wedding day. (Dominic Lipinski/AFP/Getty)
10. Tourists take photographs of Westminster Abbey on April 22. (Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images)
11. Tourists pose for pictures with a soldier from the British Household Division on Horseguard's Parade in central London on April 22. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)
12. Union Jacks are hung along Regent Street in London in celebration of the forthcoming royal wedding. (Carl Court/Associated Press)
13. A member of the household cavalry rides down the Mall adorned in Union flags ahead of the royal wedding. (Andrew Winning/Reuters)
14. A woman holds a tea bag with the portrait of Kate Middleton in Hamburg, Germany. The tea speciality "Kate & William" depicts Britain's Prince William and his fiancee Kate on its bags and is being created at a Hamburg backyard. (Marcus Brandt/AFP/Getty Images)
15. A girl curtsies to a cardboard cutout of Prince William and Kate Middleton as she attends the Princess Prep special workshop called "Regal Rules: An Introduction to Royal Manners & Behaviour" in central London on April 2. (Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images)
16. Choristers of the Choir of Her Majesty's Chapel Royal, wearing their State Coats, rehearse in the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace, in London on April 18. The Choir will perform in Westminster Abbey at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29. (Dominic Lipinsk-pa/Associated Press)
17. Members of the Scots Guard, F Company, prepare for the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Wellington Barracks in central London on April 20. Soldiers from the barracks will take part in various aspects of the royal wedding. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)
18. Guardsmen Connor Ferguson (left) and Thomas Oates of F Company, Scots Guard, polish their boots at Wellington Barracks in central London on April 20 in preparation for the royal wedding. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)
19. A Royal Naval officer gives an order to "street liners" during a rehearsal ahead of the royal wedding at HMS Collingwood naval base in Fareham, Hampshire, on April 26. The Royal Navy and Royal Marines will provide part of the 1,000 military personnel and military musicians, which will line the route from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace. (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
20. Farrier Lance Corporal of Horse Chris McCabe welds a horseshoe in the forge at Hyde Park Barracks in London on April 15. The Household Cavalry will perform several ceremonial duties during the summer including the royal wedding on April 29 and the Queen's Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour) in June. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
21. Members of the British Army Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment exercise their horses during a media event at the Hyde Park Barracks in London April 15. Members of the regiment will escort Prince William and Kate Middleton on their wedding day. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)
22. A member of the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry is seen during a media event at the Household Cavalry's Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park barracks in London on April, 15. The mounted regiment will provide close escort for the major members of the British royal family during the wedding. (Alastair Grant/Associated Press)
23. A member of the Lifeguards Household Cavalry adjusts his state helmet during preparations for the royal wedding at Hyde Park Barracks in London. The event will be Britain's biggest royal wedding since William's parents, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, married in 1981. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)
24. Members of the Household Cavalry take part in a dress rehearsal for the major gGeneral's review in Hyde Park in London on April 14. The event took place in front of the barracks and involved displays of ceremonial maneuvers, including those to be used for the royal wedding. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)
25. A convict cleans a wall in a pedestrian tunnel beneath Hyde Park Corner in central London on April 5 in preparation for the royal wedding. It is expected that thousands of people will use the tunnels to get around London as they watch the royal wedding and procession on April 29. The work is a part of a Community Payback Scheme, and is being undertaken by the London Probation Trust. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)
26. Confectioner Florian Baecker prepares cakes at the bakery Cafe Victoria (named after Britain's Queen Victoria) in Eberbach, Germany. The family of Baecker, running the cafe in the seventh generation, will deliver cakes for the royal wedding in London. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)
27. A picture of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton is placed on a box of flowers near the Mall in central London. (Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images)
28. Alice Royds and her brother Toby play with a replacement life-size cutout of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton after the original was stolen from the Hotel Windsor in Melbourne, Australia. In a midnight heist, thieves made off with the cutout being used an advertisement for the luxury hotel's "Royal Wedding Package," in a "stately" Victorian suite. The upcoming royal wedding has Australia's royalists and republicans in rare and unlikely agreement -- the monarchy is digging in Down Under. (William West/AFP/Getty Images)
29. Lookalikes for Prince William and Kate Middleton walk past Buckingham Palace in London on April 26. (Kieran Doherty/Reuters)
30. Royal wedding memorabilia of Prince William and Kate Middleton are shown at a souvenir shop in central London. (Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images)
31. Royal fan John Loughrey talks to foreign media on April 26 as he becomes the first person to camp out on the streets to wait for the start of the royal wedding. With only days to go, security checks and last minute preparations continue around Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and on the route the couple will take. ( Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images)
32. Tourists pose for photographs on the Mall leading to Buckingham Palace. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)
33. Royal enthusiast Tricia Easthope from Norfolk, England, sits in her tent across the road from Westminster Abbey on Tuesday, April 26, in order to ensure the best viewing spot for Friday's royal wedding. (Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press)
34. A life-size image of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton is carried past a London bus near Trafalgar Square by people working on a commercial video shoot for a supermarket chain. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press)
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