Elton and exes head for Abbey: Royal wedding bites

Following is a selection of stories on the royal wedding that have appeared in newspapers and on websites in the last week.

-- UK lawmaker calls for prince to reform monarchy

An opposition lawmaker has called on Prince William to support a campaign to modernize the British monarchy to give any daughters he has with future bride Kate Middleton the same rights as any sons.

Labour member of parliament (MP) Tristram Hunt said William should lend his weight to attempts to overhaul the 300-year-old Act of Settlement Law which asserts the primacy of male heirs to the British throne.

"As the son of Princess Diana, who struggled against the same archaic elements of palace protocol, such a signal would seem almost natural," Hunt wrote in an essay for the Institute for Public Policy Research's magazine.

(Source: Reuters)

--Prince William's official wedding website launched

A new website providing all the latest official information on the upcoming wedding of Britain's Prince William to girlfriend Kate Middleton was launched on Wednesday.

Royal officials say the website, www.officialroyalwedding2011.org, will be regularly updated with new details about the ceremony on April 29, as well as featuring photos, features, and video content.

It will also be the first place where details of Middleton's dress will be revealed on the day of the wedding.

(Source: Reuters)

--Elton John admits he has been invited

British singer Elton John, a close friend of the late Princess Diana, has admitted he got an invitation to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

He said in an interview on Canadian television that he and his partner David Furnish intended to attend the ceremony in Westminster Abbey.

The 63-year-old famously performed a revised version of his hit song "Candle in the Wind" at the funeral of William's mother Diana, also held at the abbey, in 1997.

It went on to sell tens of millions of copies and is the second most successful single of all time.

(Source: Reuters)

--Beckhams to race across Atlantic after royal wedding

David Beckham will race across the Atlantic to make a crucial soccer match after the royal wedding.

He will get on a plane right after Prince William and Kate Middleton marry on April 29 so he does not miss the LA Galaxy game stateside two days later.

David, 35, said last night: "You don't say no to the future king of England."

(Source: Daily Mirror)

--Butcher, postman, pub landlord invited to royal wedding

Kate Middleton has invited the butcher, the postman and pub landlord from her village in Berkshire to her wedding to Prince William in April.

A select handful of Bucklebury residents will rub shoulders with royalty and celebrities such as David and Victoria Beckham after receiving a gold-embossed invitation from the couple.

(Source: Daily Telegraph)

--Old flames Kate and Wills are inviting to their wedding

He's charming, handsome and second in line to the throne, so it is no surprise Prince William had his fair share of female admirers before Kate Middleton stole his heart.

And with her natural poise, Kate certainly turned heads before she landed her Prince.

Their wedding will see Westminster Abbey filled with pretty gals and rugged chaps who all have one thing in common: a past flirtation with the future King and Queen of England.

(Source: Daily Mail)