Bride-to-be keeps any hint of nerves carefully hidden

The bride-to-be was all smiles when she arrived at Westminster Abbey yesterday for a last-minute rehearsal ahead of her wedding.

Joined by best man Prince Harry, she appeared happy and relaxed as she was escorted from the ancient building where today she will walk down the aisle, watched by up to two billion people around the world.

But at a time when many might succumb to a case of the jitters, Miss Middleton, 29, showed no sign of stress or strain.

Sitting next to her future brother-in-law and with a delighted smile on her face, she was driven away from the abbey accompanied by a police motorbike escort.

The bridal party – including bridesmaids, pageboys and members of Miss Middleton’s family – spent an hour and 20 minutes in the abbey, leaving from the west door at around 10.50am in a convoy of blacked-out cars.

Footage from a television helicopter showed the group looking calm and collected as they climbed into people carriers and made the short trip back to Clarence House.

It is thought that Kate’s maid of honour Pippa Middleton also joined the group. She will play an integral part in the ceremony and is likely to have the added job of looking after the younger bridesmaids, who include three-year-old Eliza Lopes, granddaughter of the Duchess of Cornwall.

Yesterday’s run-through was the last time Miss Middleton or a member of the Royal Family will be at the abbey before the service gets under way today.