♪ what did we learn on the show tonight, craig? ♪ [meow] [laughter] craig: good night!,,,,,,,,,,,,,, [ music playing, indistinct conversations ] the charcoal went out already? [ sighs ] forget it. [ male announcer ] there's more barbeque time in every bag of kingsford charcoal. kingsford. slow down and grill. we welcome our viewers joining us from the west coast as our cbs news coverage of the royal wedding continues. 6 and as we show you the arrivals here at the abbey and await the start of the ceremony, this morning we're taking another look back at the 1981 wedding of charles and diana. in our next segment, the service has just ended, and the procession is about to begin. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ these are ocean spray sparkling juice drinks. they have bubbles. it's real fruit juice; crisp, sparkling water; and no added sugar. and they come in these really cool cans. you want one? i'll wait a bit. all right. mm. refreshing. with chili's new $6 lunch break combos. choose from a house salad or hot, tasty soup. then pair it with a massive texas toast half sandwich, like our delicious classic turkey or our gigantic new southwestern blt, smothered in cilantro lime mayo and jam-packed with three glorious slices of applewood smoked bacon. served with fries, that's big flavor for just 6 bucks! the $6 break for bold, weekdays at chili's. back now from london. just across the street from westminster abbey, where prince william and kate middleton will be married at 6:00 a.m. eastern time. we'll have live coverage of that for you. but right now let's go back to the wedding of william's parents, charles and diana, 30 years ago. in this segment, their first public kiss as husband and wife. >> and there it is. that kiss. a tradition started by charles and diana. at 8:25 this morning, kate middleton and prince william are expected to do the same on the balcony of buckingham palace. meanwhile, we can see that the crowds are filling up westminster abbey. a few minutes ago, sir elton john arrived with his partner david furnish. of course, he sang at diana's funeral. and i think has a very close relationship with prince william. >> he does, yes. he sang "candle in the wind" at diana's funeral, which is very moving. and all the money made from that record he gave to her memorial. which was millions. >> 35 million copies were sold of that song worldwide. meanwhile john major also just came into the abbey. he and margaret thatcher were invited. she couldn't come because she's ill. but tony blair, and gordon brown were not invited. which is an interesting snub which we'll talk about in a moment. in a moment, too, one last look back at the wedding of charles and diana. some of you will be taking a break now for local news. for the rest, cbs news coverage of the royal wedding will continue. woman: till all the books are read... man: and all the pens are put down... woman: and everything there is to learn is learned. man: till the heroes retire and the monsters return to their dens... woman: and all the plots are wrapped up. man: till that day... boy: by hook or by crook... girl: by book or by nook... woman: i will read. [ beep ] [ male announcer ] find an italian masterpiece in your grocer's freezer. buitoni shrimp and lobster ravioli with garlic butter sauce. simple ingredients, artfully prepared. create an italian masterpiece. buitoni. in the freezer section. but when i was diagnosed with prostate cancer... i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions i felt lost. unitedhealthcare offered us a specially trained rn who helped us weigh and understand all our options. for me cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids. but my coach had hit that pitch before. turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. good morning again, everyone, from london, where the wedding of william and kate is just over an hour away. but right now, let's go back in time, 30 years for one last look at the wedding of charles and diana. >> i charles, philip arthur george, take thee diana frances. >> to love and to cherish. >> to love and to cherish. >> till death us do part. >> till death us do part. ♪ ♪ >> the wedding of charles and diana, 30 years ago. now the wedding of their son, prince william to kate middleton is coming up in just one hour. guests, as you can see, have been arriving all morning long. so, david starkey, where have the key players been? for example, prince william the groom. he's been at clarence house, correct? >> that's right. he actually lives there most of the time. it's his father's main residence. if it wasn't the early 19th century, the queen, of course, has been holding the fort at buckingham palace as she always does along with her husband prince philip. >> meanwhile kate middleton spent the night at the goring hotel with her family, apparently watching dvds trying to relax. >> i doubt she feels relaxed at all. but it's all happening at the goring when i left there early this morning. and, the hairdressers would have been going there from 6:00 this morning. so i don't suppose anyone had a great deal of sleep. >> and cbs news coverage of the royal wedding will continue in a moment. www4clé ♪,,,,,,,, from cbs news, the wedding of prince william and miss catherine middleton. from london, here is katie couric. and good morning, everyone. it is 10:00 a.m. here in london. a bit chilly, a bill cloudy. but everyone is very, very excited about this day. of course, it's a lot earlier back home in the states. so if you're staying up late or getting up early, we're very happy you're with us, because, as you might have heard, there's going to be a wedding. it starts in one hour right across the street at westminster abbey. and you have the best seats in the house. well, your house, anyway. over the next five hours we'll do everything we can to make you feel like you're right there. we have cbs news correspondents at all key positions all over town to bring you every moment of pageantry, as prince william and kate middleton tie the knot. erica hill is "the early show" is over at buckingham palace along with rachel johnson, editor of "the lady" and royal contributor victoria arbiter. and here with me are guides for all things royal, ingrid seward, the editor of "majesty" magazine, and historian david starkey. welcome to all of you, and, david and ingrid, first to you, everyone is saying this is a new chapter for the monarchy, and everyone seems to be embracing this very modern couple. do you think that's the case? that this will put the monarchy in a great position going forward? >> yes. but the one thing we mustn't think of is kate middleton as being common. she's had just the same education as william. in fact, she is a new style of royal bride. she's a university girl, and she's clever, and she's confident, and at ease in her skin. unlike poor diana. who was so nervous to begin with. >> she's also ten years older than diana was. >> exactly. she's ten years older. but it's the level of education. this is the most equal royal marriage that's ever been. they're both university school graduates. >> it's kind of shocking. i think people at home, ingrid, might be surprised to hear this is the first person who graduated from a university to marry into the royal family. >> that's true. but, if you remember, in the old days, often people were educated at home by governesses. girls in this country didn't go to university. it's a fairly recent phenomenon. surprised by that. >> and there's another way that arbiter, and that is that she living with prince time before they have actually tied the knot. and, you know, that might have been scandalous back in the day. blinking an -- or batting an eyelash or blinking an eye about that. >> you're absolutely right. it's quite good -- yes, can you hear me? >> yes, i can. sorry go ahead. >> yes. no, it's great, actually, that they've had this experience living together. of course, back in diana's time it would have been unheard of. but now they're well aware of each other's bad habits. they're well aware of what it's like to live together. there are to be no surprises once they get back from honeymoon. i think they've set themselves in good stead. >> and what about this new generation, rachel? i mean obviously they're young, they're dynamic, they're modern. by the way, that is prime minister david cameron with his wife samantha. he told some people when he walked out into the crowd yesterday that he was 14 years old, and he actually camped out to watch charles marry diana. so now he must have to pinch himself. he's the prime minister, walking in to westminster abbey for this very regal affair. and he's slightly controversial, is he not, david? >> david cameron -- >> well, he -- >> go ahead. >> hold on two seconds, you guys. i'm sorry we're just getting our wires crossed a bit. i was saying to david starkey because of the austerity program he's slightly controversial. >> he is. but what caused more controversy was whether he should wear morning dress. that's what people get excited about at weddings. he's shown good manners. rachel, i was saying that this couple, william and kate, really represent a new generation, and young people in great britain must be very the royal family now looks like them. >> it is. i mean, just as david and samantha were a new generation of politicians, a new political family, a dynasty to a young family, the royal family now has a new couple to focus on. and you know, it's another rebirth for them. it's very, very exciting. >> meanwhile -- >> david cameron is having his second royal wedding in his lifetime. lovely for him. as it is for us. >> meanwhile, as we can see, people entering the abbey. we should mention that most of the vvip guests are entering the great west door while sort of the regular folk, if you can call them that, will be going in to the north entrance of the abbey. why is that, ingrid? great west door for the members of the royal family, the members of the diplomatic corps, and foreign dignitaries. and they've got to get everybody -- they've got to get 1,900 guests in that abbey by the time the royal party arrives. so, it's kind of good to have a two-door section. >> meanwhile they're expected up to 1 million spectators lining the route, hoping to get a glimpse of the royal couple. and that's even a larger number than showed up for diana's wedding 30 years ago. >> i was astonished this morning when i fought my way here from the hotel. the streets were already crowded before 7:00. people were four, five, six deep. i think it really has caught the imagination. i think it's also, this is a bit of a grim time. we've had recession. we've got declining incomes. people want a bit of fun. monarchy is brilliant, juicy, fun entertainment. so many of the people i saw and listened to were american. clearly coming back home, in a funny kind of way, of watching the royal family. that perhaps controversially you got rid of. >> there we have sir elton john, of course. there are not that many celebrities coming today. i was surprised. david beckham and his wife victoria beckham will be there. guy richie, madonna's ex-husband, also a film director. i believe kanye west was invited, at least that's what i read, because prince william liked his music, but he's not in attendance. it's not that heavy on celebrities, is it? >> i don't think they wanted a great, big celebrity wedding. what they really wanted was to have a wedding where they could invite their friends. obviously they've had, because of who prince william is, he has to invite other people. but they wanted their friends. and not celebrities, they don't need to show up because they're the biggest celebrities themselves. >> victoria arbiter, we were talking about david cameron and the austerity program. in some ways prince william and kate middleton have been trying to keep this fairly low-key, haven't they? they don't want to be too ostentatious and over the top. they want to be mindful of how people are struggling in their country. >> that's absolutely right. and i think it's been really interesting to see that they've been rewarding people for loyalty. or they've been rewarding people who've had quite a hard time. for example william is patron of the home his mother was patron of and they've got a girl who was formerly homeless coming along from there. they've got war veterans or people injured severely in afghanistan recently. they've got the families of a few of william's colleagues from sand hurst who sadly lost their lives in afghanistan. they've tried to stay in touch with the people who matter and keep everything as low key as possible. then to add touches like the british country garden theme inside the abbey, because at the end of the day this is two people that are having a personal wedding. they just happen to be sharing with 2 billion people. >> one of the other things that's gotten a lot of attention in terms not trying to be too ostentatious, especially in this time, dealing with the economy much like it is in the states here is their decision not to ask for wedding gifts and instead they've asked people to make donations to a number of charities which they have set aside. and that's another way that they're doing their part, in their eyes, to step back a bit and say, you know, we don't need anything. what you should do instead, if you would like to do something for us, please do something for others. >> and we've been looking at shots of the guests. we just saw john major again and david beckham in the crowd. he cleans up rather well, i might add. brother, who many across miller, our jersey shore who have come all the way to london for this -- for the festivities. is that right, michelle? >> michelle? michelle miller can you hear me? >> we're at the duke of york steps, the entry point of the mall. the mall is that grand boulevard that was created at the 20th century. created for to be that point of