The Royal Wedding: What Will It Cost?
Here's a list of some of the more interesting costs and benefits associated with Friday's Royal Wedding (figures were calculated at an exchange rate of 1.65 U.S. dollars to the pound):
Estimated total cost of the Royal Wedding: $34 million
Estimated total cost of Charles and Diana's wedding (today's dollars): $110 million
Average cost of a U.S. wedding: $27,000
2010 property income for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles: $50 million
Cost of Kate's wedding gown: $434,000
Average amount spent on a wedding gown in the U.S.: $1,099
Cost of two wedding cakes: $80,000
Average amount spent on a wedding cake in the U.S.: $540
Number of guests for the Queen's luncheon reception: 600
Number of guests for Prince Charles's dinner reception: 300
Cost per bottle of wine to be served at the luncheon reception: $14 to $23
Cost per bottle of champagne to be served before the dinner reception: $50
Maximum number of bites the luncheon canapés are designed to be eaten in: 2
Amount spent by British soccer star Wayne Rooney on his 2008 wedding: $8 million
Amount spent by Bill and Hillary Clinton on Chelsea's 2010 wedding: $3 million to $5 million
Cost of security for Will and Kate's wedding (to be paid by taxpayers): $33 million
Cost of security for Charles and Diana's 1981 wedding (today's dollars): $20 million
Cost of security for the G20 conference in London in 2009: $12 million
Number of additional tourists expected in London for the Royal Wedding: 600,000
Amount those tourists are expected to spend on April 29: $82 million
Total tourism revenue expected from the Royal Wedding in 2011: $825 million+
Cost of the "Royal Wedding Tour" at Westminster Abbey: $26
Cost of a life-sized cardboard cutout of William and Kate: $58.50
Cost of 2 William and Kate tea bags: $8
Winning auction bid for a pair of William and Kate Pez dispensers: $13,360
Global audience expected to watch the wedding on TV: 2 billion
Additional audience expected to watch online and listen on radio: 400 million
Estimated economic output lost by making the Royal Wedding a national holiday: $10 billion
Estimated economic output lost by Britons taking extra days off between Easter and the Royal Wedding and getting an 11-day holiday: $50 billion
U.K. unemployment rate: 7.8%
Size of the U.K. budget deficit: 10% of GDP
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