10 Questions About the Royal Wedding

(Nov. 16) -- Where will they get hitched? What will she wear? And was the royal engagement really announced on Twitter?

News that Prince William, second in line to the British throne, had finally popped the question to Kate Middleton nine years after the pair met as students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland ended years of hyperventilating about when the couple would finally make it official. But it has led to a whole bevy of other questions as well.

In anticipation of such hoopla, the British monarchy offered this muted royal response, sure to please no one: "Further details about the wedding day will be announced in due course."

The long wait for the engagement announcement is finally over, but the wedding bonanza has only just begun, and it's sure to keep the House of Windsor -- and the rest of us -- plenty occupied. Here are 10 questions about the royal wedding.

1. When's the wedding?
Royal officials have said the big day will take place in the spring or summer of 2011, a large enough window for wedding watchers to look to the royal calendar for smoke signals that may point to an exact date.

The big event will take place somewhere in London, officials said. No official venue, but Westminster Abbey, the smaller St. Margaret's Church and St. Paul's Cathedral, where William's parents were married, are all possibilities.

The couple already have one budget option to consider: City Hall. London Mayor Boris Johnson has offered to cut William and Kate a deal on the public space. "Let me tell you, if they want a cut-price deal with a central London venue with a view of London landmarks, the ideal place would be City Hall," he told the Docklands24 in London.

2. What about the ring?
It's an oval sapphire surrounded by diamonds and belonged to William's mother, the late Princess Diana, according to a spokesman for Prince Charles.

3. Why did they announce the engagement a month after Prince William proposed?
That's unclear. Clarence House, Prince Charles' residence, said the couple, who are essentially already living together in north Wales, got engaged in October while on vacation in Kenya. Why the royal family waited a month to announce the engagement isn't known, but cynics say the British government is taking advantage of the media ballyhoo by releasing more unpleasant news under the radar.

For example, The Wall Street Journal notes that British Prime Minister David Cameron flip-flopped on his much-criticized decision to put his personal photographers on the public payroll. Just before news of the engagement broke, spokesmen for the prime minister announced that the photographers will remain on the payroll of the Conservative Party instead, timing that was "rather convenient" at first glance, Iain Martin wrote at the Journal:

"Cameron's swift and sensible action suggests he realizes how big a blunder it was. But the news of the U-turn will now get hardly any coverage -- certainly in the next 24 hours -- because of the royal-related excitement. It will be buried under endless coverage of 'Kate and Wills.'"

4. All the royal titles: What titles could Kate have?
Middleton can finally bid good riddance to the nickname "Waity Katie," as some in the British press have dubbed her during her nearly decade-long romance with Prince William. And as the daughter of a former pilot and a flight attendant who now own a successful business in England, Middleton is a commoner.

As the wife of Prince William, she will become Her Royal Highness Princess William of Wales, although it's possible Queen Elizabeth II could grant her the title Princess Catherine. More likely, the queen would make William make a royal duke -- possible titles include Duke of Clarence, Duke of Cambridge, Duke of Connaught or Duke of Sussex -- and Middleton would become a royal duchess.

When Prince Charles becomes king, William would be made Prince of Wales and Middleton would be Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, the title once held by her fiancee's much beloved mother, the late Princess Diana.

When William becomes king, his wife would become Queen Catherine.

5. Why was the engagement announced on Twitter?
The royal family announced the engagement on its official website as well, but it was a tweet from Prince Charles' office that set tongues wagging. "The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton," Clarence House announced on Twitter.

The monarchy has only recently begun dabbling in social media. Earlier this month, the queen joined Facebook. But some longtime observers note that the exploits of the British family have always been rather public. "For watchers on this side of the Atlantic, the royals became somewhat of an ongoing reality show when Princess Diana married Prince Charles in 1981," The Washington Post said today.

6. Will it last?
Many in the British press seem to think so. They say it's unlikely the world will see a repeat of the ugly split between Princess Diana and Prince Charles. The reason? Middleton, who has been criticized by the media for her lack of interest in a career, is unambitious and is therefore "perfect wife material," Harry Mount explains in the London Telegraph:

"Kate Middleton is beautifully suited to the role of wife. Her lack of career is perfect -- there'll be no wishing she had stuck to her career and become chairman of ICI or whatever, whenever the marriage, like all marriages, has a few rough moments. All that Waity Katy stuff is actually pretty useful, too. If it's to be believed, she's been longing to get married -- which is a pretty good indicator that she'll like being married, too."

7. Do the royals approve of the match?
All signs point to yes. But it's been a long courtship between "The Firm," as the royal family is sometimes referred to, and Middleton, a commoner with wealthy parents but coal-mining ancestors. Still, despite the fixation over their class differences in the media, the royal family seems to have embraced Middleton. Last month, the queen invited her future daughter-in-law's family for a shooting holiday at Balmoral in Scotland, The Associated Press noted today.

8. What will the dress look like?
Middleton has become a conservative-style icon since her relationship with Prince William became public years ago, so expectations are high for her wedding day.

Mark Niemierko, a high-end, well-known London wedding planner, told AOL's aisledash.com that Middleton will likely choose a dress "with a bit of a kick to it." Don't, he suggests, look for a repeat of the enormous dress worn by Princess Diana on her wedding day. "I don't think it would be the big massive long train like Diana. I think that it had its time and place."

9. Is Kate sure she wants to go through with this?
Some critics, many of them women, say Middleton should think twice before she heads down the aisle to her prince. Royal life, they say, stinks. Besides, they note, it didn't work out so well for her Diana.

"Kate should run for the hills while she still has a chance," Bonnie Fuller writes at The Huffington Post.

Fuller says the British press shouldn't be so "vicious" about Middleton's lack of royal blood. "Personally, I think William and the royals should be begging Kate to marry into their gene pool. They NEED her non-royal genes to add some genetic diversity and brains into their too-tight family."

Earlier this summer, one British writer agreed. "If there is a big day, the best-case scenario would be for Kate to make it even bigger by jilting William at the altar and running away, out of the royal hell forever, screaming as she goes, loud and proud: 'I'm a commoner, get me out of here!'" Barbara Ellen wrote in The Guardian Aug. 29.

10. Who will little brother Harry bring as a date?
Come on. Even The New York Times wants to know.