Nairobi — Africa’s the perfect place to come. The locals haven’t a clue who I am, and I love that.

Those were the words of the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, when he gave reasons for choosing Kenya as his ideal place to propose to his longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton.

And as the royal wedding took place on Friday at 11am (London time) at Westminster Abbey, Kenya was hailed as a romantic destination choice.

Previously known as the birth country of US President Barack Obama’s father, Kenya again featured as a romantic journey for Prince William and Kate Middleton.

The country provided the quixotic scene which Prince William proposed to his long-term girlfriend at Rutundu Log Cabin on the slopes of Mt Kenya in October last year.

But it may not be surprising after all that Prince William chose Kenya. His grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, was announced Queen while on a wildlife safari in Kenya in 1952.

King George VI had just cancelled his planned visit of Australia and New Zealand due to his failing health. The King three years later allowed his heir and Princess Elizabeth to make the royal trip on behalf of the Kingdom.

As fate would have it, then Princess Elizabeth made a detour to Kenya to visit a prominent settler, Maj Sherbrook Eric Walker.

And as King George later died in 1952 and the news reached Princess Elizabeth and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, she was at the Treetops Hotel during a mountain retreat.

Tucked away overlooking Mount Kenya, Prince William proposed at the Lewa Conservancy during a 10-day safari in October last year.

According to staff at the cabin where the young couple stayed, among the Duke of Cambridge’s past-time activity at the hotel was “looking up at the dark nights under the African skies, staring up at the stars till dawn”.

New titles

The Duke of Cambridge has been a royal title since the reign of Charles II in the 1600s.

Prince William thus becomes His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge and Miss Kate Middleton becomes Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge.

And as if to symbolically mark the beginning of their marriage sojourn, the audience sang ‘Guide me, O thou great Redeemer,’ as the first hymn during the ceremony.

The guest list comprised 1,900 guests, with the couple requesting guests and well-wishers to donate to charity in lieu of lavish gifts.

Some men at the function adorned the kilt, which is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century.

Most kilts are often made of woollen cloth in a tartan pattern and since the 19th century it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland.

Before the ceremony began, ceremonial guards mounted on horseback could be sighted five hours as crowds soared to witness the union.

The theme colour at the wedding was Burgundy with golden drapes. And the crowds were awed by Queen Elizabeth’s dress — a lemon coat with a matching hat and a flower on it.

And at 1.16pm Kenyan time, the Archbishop of Canterbury solemnised the marriage that was watched by billions of people worldwide.

“I pronounce that they be man and wife together, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” he pronounced.

Locally, the wedding was streamed by local and international media, with NTV featuring a special edition on the wedding from Nation Centre and the Fairmont Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi.

Kate Middleton’s wedding gown was the talk of town, with 13,000 royal wedding tweets per minute as people took turns to guess how the wedding gown would look.

Miss Kate Middleton’s wedding dress was designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen and it was described as a modern and classy one.

The dress was made with ivory and white satin gazar with the lace appliqué for the bodice while the skirt was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace.

According to designer Burton, the skirt echoes an opening flower, with white satin gazar arches and pleats with the train measuring 2m’ 70cm.

Fashion designers described the V-necked long-sleeved wedding dress as “very lacy” and hailed it as a modern yet classy gown that combined tradition and modernity with an artistic touch.

The wedding shoes were also hand-made by the team at Alexander McQueen and out of ivory duchess satin with lace hand-embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.

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