English in Madrid

Source: Annie Spratt on Unsplash 1981: Charles and Diana marry Crowds of 600,000 people filled the streets of London to catch a glimpse of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on their wedding day.  The couple were married at St Paul's Cathedral before an invited congregation of 3,500 and an estimated global TV audience of 750 million - making it the most popular programme ever broadcast.  Britons enjoyed a national holiday to mark the occasion.  Lady Diana, 20, arrived almost on time for the 1120 BST ceremony after making the journey from Clarence House in the Glass Coach with her father, Earl Spencer.  She made the three-and-a-half minute walk up the red-carpeted aisle with the sumptuous 25 ft (7.62 m) train of her Emmanuel designed, ivory taffeta and antique lace gown flowing behind her.  Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Robert Runcie led the traditional Church of England service, but he was assisted by clergymen from many denominations.  The ...

Source:  Alasdair Elmes on Unsplash When faking your own death to get out of catering a wedding is not fraud  Madrid court finds two entrepreneurs not guilty after they lied to a couple about their supposed demise and kept the fiancés’ money Just hours before a wedding was due to take place, Jesús C., the businessman in charge of cater ing the event, sent a mail to the bride purporting to be someone else, and claiming that both he and his son had died. The message explained that the company would not be able to serve the food – which was already 75% paid for. The lie has been described as such by the Spanish justice system, yet the perpetrators will not be punished as the courts found that the ruse cannot be considered fraud. The man in question already had a criminal record for misappropriation of funds, and six other couples say he pulled the same trick on them. The public prosecutor was calling for a prison sentence of one year and three months. ...

Source: Steve Smith (Unsplash) The lavish wedding - for just a pound A thrifty bride and groom have proved a wedding day to remember does not need to cost a fortune after celebrating their nuptials -- for just one pound. Georgina Porteous and Sid Innes organised their perfect day for family and friends , complete with rings , flowers, a cake and a photographer to capture the occasion. They also hosted a reception with a picnic, drinks, jazz music and dancing at a romantic setting in the Scottish Highlands. But incredibly, apart from the £70 they had to pay by law for their marriage fees, their only expenditure was a pound on Georgina's vintage wedding gown. The newlyweds have now been toasting their big day after spending only a tiny fraction of the average £20,000 cost of a wedding in the UK. Georgina, 36, said: "I don't see the point in these massive weddings. It takes away from what marriage is truly about. "There is nothing to gain from spending a huge am...

Source:  Foto de Sandy Millar en Unsplash Spain's Duchess of Alba remarries at 85 in Seville The Duchess of Alba, one of Spain's richest and most flamboyant women, has got married again at the age of 85 to a civil servant 24 years her junior. The aristocrat married Alfonso Diez Carabantes at a palace in Seville, emerging to throw her wedding bouquet into the crowd and dance flamenco. She wore a salmon-pink knee-length dress with moss-green sash. The duchess, who has a record number of noble titles, had to overcome her children's suspicions about the union. According to Guinness World Records, the duchess - whose full name is Maria del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva - has more titles recognised by an existing government than any other noble. She has wealth to match, with estates, palaces and treasures including art masterpieces estimated to be worth up to 3.5bn euros (£3bn; $4.7bn). At her first wedding in 1947, 1,000 gu...

Princess Beatrice's royal wedding hat placed on eBay The elaborate hat worn by Princess Beatrice at Prince William's wedding has gone on sale on eBay to raise money for charity.  The Philip Treacy design is billed as a "unique sculptural celebratory headpiece".  The starting bid was £5,000 from entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne of Dragon's Den fame who said that, for once, he wouldn't mind losing. Proceeds from the sale will be shared between Unicef and Children in Crisis.  After the wedding, the hat was compared to a pretzel and a lavatory seat. A Facebook page set up in its honour attracted a following of more than 5,000 people.  Princess Beatrice defended her choice of hat in a recent magazine interview, saying it was "wonderful that it's had such a reaction".  'Delighted'   In a statement announcing the online auction she said: "I've been amazed by the amount of attention the hat has attracted. It's a wonderf...

Source: newsy.com  (Video has been deleted) Just as the royal newlyweds finished their vows , Internet records burst . Now, tech experts say the event was the perfect example of the future of online viewing. According to CNN, the abundance in Internet traffic makes the wedding the sixth biggest event in Internet history. Even bigger than President Obama’s election night. (Video from ITN) “Global Internet traffic on news-focused websites peaked at 5.3 million page views per minute at about 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday … Will and Kate did beat out President Obama's election in November 2008, which got 4.3 million page views per minute.” Although the wedding didn’t break the overall page views record, GigaOM reports the wedding did break the live-streaming record. The web hosting company... “Akamai said it saw a peak of 2.9 million simultaneous streams (live and on-demand ) across its network during the event … nearly double the previous record 1.6 million streams it serv...

Source: maomaotqh (You Tube) Key words Royal wedding hunger strike Mexican teen on hunger strike over royal wedding A Mexican teenager is staging a hunger strike outside the British Embassy in Mexico City in a bizarre attempt to secure an invitation to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Estibalis Chavez, 19, said she had not eaten for the past eight days and was living on just water as she camps in a blue tent near the gates to the embassy. "Are they going to let me die just because they wouldn't give me an invitation to the royal wedding?" Miss Chavez wrote on one of the flyers she has plastered near the entrance to the colonial-style building. "This is my only dream," read another flyer next to a picture of the smiling royal couple who will marry at Westminster Abbey on April 29. Miss Chavez, wearing braces , pigtails and glasses, said the late Princess Diana had inspired her campaign. "I think she was one of the most i...

Source: You Tube (ITV News) Key Words: William Kate engagement Royal wedding: Prince William and Kate Middleton say time is right for marriage Announcing their engagement Prince William said: " The timing is right now, we are both very, very happy." Miss Middleton added that joining the Royal Family was a " daunting prospect " but said: "Hopefully I'll take it in my stride ." The couple were speaking at a photocall hours after Clarence House announced that they planned to marry in spring or summer next year, delighting the couple's parents, politicians and well-wishers . Prince William asked for Miss Middleton's hand in marriage while they were on holiday in Kenya last month, and the wedding will be held in the spring or summer next year. She will then move in with her husband in Wales. This afternoon it was confirmed that the Prince proposed with the blue sapphire and diamond ring that his father, the Prince of Wales, gave to Diana...

Here are a few of the wedding pics. Hope it keeps someone happy. :-) Vocabulary Practice : All the words in green are related to weddings. Can you write a definition for them. e.g .They went to Venice for their honeymoon . The honeymoon is the holiday you go on after your wedding. There were over 150  guests at the wedding. The  bride looked radiant as she entered the church. The  groom was nervous as he waited at the altar. Was she having second thoughts as she walked down the aisle ? They decided to get married in the Registry Office . It took him 5 years to pop the question . Everyone cheered and threw c onfetti as the newly-weds left the church. She was so nervous as they exchanged vows that she got her words mixed up. . The reception was held in one of the best hotels in the city. He went abroad for his stag night while she had a quiet evening with friends for her hen party .  The best man   gave a funny speech about the...