Kate's Royal Wedding Dress to go on display at Buckingham Palace

The beautiful wedding dress worn by Kate Middleton now the Duchess of Cambridge at the Royal Wedding on 29th April 2011 is to go on display at Buckingham Palace this summer from 23rd July to 3rd October 2011.

The Royal bride's veil, tiara, diamond earrings and shoes will also go on display along with the Royal Wedding cake.

The wedding dress designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen is made from ivory and white satin-gazar and the train measures 2.7 metres. Kate worked closely with Sarah Burton on the design.

The veil is made of layers of soft ivory silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers and was held in place by the Cartier 'Halo' tiara which was lent to Kate by the Queen. The tiara had been given to Queen Elizabeth by her mother on her eighteenth birthday when she was still a princess. The shoes were also hand-made by the design team at Alexander McQueen.

Kate Middleton's Royal Wedding dress designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen

Kate Middleton's wedding dress is an ivory gown with lace applique floral detail designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen. Made of ivory and white satin gazar, the skirt resembles "an opening flower" with white satin gazar arches and pleats.

The dress has a beautiful train that measures just two metres which is modest in comparison to many previous royal brides. The train and bodice are decorated with delicate lace flowers, handcrafted using the Carrickmacross lace-making technique, which originated in Ireland in the 1820s.

Kate worked closely with Sarah Burton, it was widely speculated that the design house of Alexander McQueen had won the job to create the Royal bridal gown but the Palace was keeping tight lipped throughout the run up to the big day and would not confirm either way.

Today St James's Palace said the bride chose British brand Alexander McQueen for the "beauty of its craftsmanship" and its "respect for traditional workmanship and the technical construction of clothing".

There's no doubt that together Kate and Sarah Burton have created a remarkable dress for these times and there is no doubt that this style of dress will be seen in church wedding ceremonies across the UK if not the world.

With less than 2 days to go until the Royal Wedding...

What's the latest news?

At around 2am (GMT) this morning approximately 1000 British soldiers from the RAF, Navy, Household Cavalry, and the Army (some of whom have served with Prince William) took part in a dress rehearsal. 

The rehearsal followed the planned Royal procession route culminating at 5am with the Rolls Royce phantom in which Kate Middleton is expected to travel in on her way to the ceremony, pulling up outside Westminster Abbey. Later on, seven RAF pilots rehearsed the fly-past in the sky above London. 

There is a full dress rehearsal expected tomorrow, the day before the Royal Wedding, which will take place in Westminster Abbey and involve the whole of the wedding party except Kate, William and the Royal Family. 

A music rehearsal is taking place in the Abbey today, which has been closed off now to the public. And, Kate and William are expected to run through a dress rehearsal at Westminster Abbey later on today but it is not yet confirmed.

The public have already started pitching their tents along the main procession route with some of the people having camped out since Tuesday just to ensure they secure one of the best viewing positions. 

Elsewhere, it has been rumoured that Alexander McQueen maybe the designer behind the Royal Wedding dress (we'll update you further on this). Whilst others have been more concerned with Kate's hairdo, with speculation that she will be wearing it up instead of down after she was spotted today with it uncharacteristically tied up.

Finally, there has been some speculation that Prince William personally snubbed Tony Blair and Gordon Brown by ensuring they both were not invited to the Royal Wedding. In contrast two past Tory leaders, Sir John Major and Lady Thatcher were invited. 

It is no secret that Prince William is not a big fan of Tony Blair after he made political capital out of the death of his mother and Gordon Brown may have just been a victim of convenience as the Palace's official line on it is that neither Tony Blair nor Gordon Brown are Knights of the Realm. They could hardly invite one without the other, could they?