Royal wedding

It's infectious, intoxicating, you can't help but be swept up in the glorious story that Kate Middleton and Prince William are living!

OK, I admit, I have allowed myself to get a bit swept up by this amazing modern fairy tale -- I can't help it. It truly is a fairy tale. I mean, honestly, I couldn't write a better love story if I tried!

I stayed up all night -- yes, all night -- to watch the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. I know that sounds crazy and being honest with myself here, it is crazy, but let me explain my logic.

Americans swept up in royal fever woke long before dawn Friday to eat full English breakfasts and attend British-themed parties across four time zones as they watched Prince William marry longtime sweetheart Kate Middleton.

LONDON -- Practice makes perfect: Kate Middleton and her bridesmaids, together with best man Prince Harry, rehearsed one more time at Westminster Abbey on Thursday, the eve of the most anticipated royal wedding in decades.

But politics intruded on Friday's royal nuptials, with Britain withdrawing its invitation to Syria's ambassador to condemn the violent crackdown on protesters there that has left hundreds dead.

LONDON -- Knit your own royal wedding.

Need we say more?

A 64-page manual with that actual title is for sale at the venerable Hatchards bookshop on Piccadilly here, along with slightly more tasteful royal-wedding-themed literary offerings. And yes, the book really does show you how to knit your own Royal Family, including Kate Middleton in her wedding dress, albeit one in wool with mohair trim.

From "Prince William" champagne to "Kiss Me Kate" beer, from refrigerators to Pez dispensers, from comic books to condoms, enterprising marketers are plastering the young couple's image and name on every conceivable type of merchandise. Much is available online, but stores are hawking royal-wedding memorabilia on the streets of this city to apparently eager American buyers.

LONDON -- It's not the type of welcome most wedding guests expect before they get into church -- background checks, ID verification and a security sweep.

But then again, Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding on Friday is no ordinary affair.

Britain hasn't seen a royal wedding of this size since Prince Charles married Diana in 1981 -- there were actually 200 more police on duty for that wedding, which had a longer procession route and a guest list of some 3,500 people, including foreign royals and heads of state.

Friday's wedding will offer much of the same pomp and circumstance with its 1,900 invited guests, but it also presents a modern security nightmare for the 5,000 U.K. police officers on duty. Police will be on the look-out for Irish dissident terrorists, Muslim extremists, anti-monarchists and protesters.