'William and Kate' spark furore at Saudi wedding

A Saudi bride donned a hat similar to that worn by Lady Kate when she married Prince William and swayed to the same music that was played at the British royal wedding as she wanted her marriage to be the talk of the town. But she had not apparently thought her innovative idea would backfire.

As the bride was escorted into the wedding hall in the eastern town of Dammam, the British royal wedding music started to reverberate through the packed hall. What complicated the situation was that the music also included sounds of church bells similar to that done for William and Kate.

“At that moment, many female guests got angry and left the wedding….a rift between the relatives or the bride and the bridegroom ensued,” the Arabic language daily Sabq said on Tuesday.

“The wedding resumed after both families decided to stop that music which lasted nearly 30 minutes but only after many guests had left…the bride’s mother swore that she did not know that such music would be played.”

Sabq quoted relatives as saying the unnamed bride and her sister had thought of the idea without realizing “its repercussions on the conservative Saudi society.”

“The bride said she wanted her wedding to be the talk of the town so she thought about such an idea..…relatives said she had paid nearly SR4,000 ($1,100) for the design of the music and the sounds of church bells.”

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