Royal wedding dominates Facebook status updates

There were some 684,399 status updates on Facebook in the UK about the royal wedding during the space of four hours this morning; the equivalent of 47 mentions per second.

References to Kate Middleton and then Prince William took the top two spots, with 131,385 and 104,747 mentions respectively, closely followed by that of Prince Harry in third with 64,107 mentions. “Princess Catherine” got less than 2,000 references.

The Beckhams took fourth and fifth spot with David receiving 22,421 mentions and his pregnant wife Victoria, 12,346.

Joanna Shields, vice president of Facebook EMEA, said: “These numbers show the sheer scale of the public’s response to the royal wedding; millions are using Facebook to share what they think about every last detail of the ceremony.”

Fashion was also a big subject as speculation over who the now Duchess of Cambridge would wear. Sarah Burton got some 13,000 mentions throughout the day, while a further 7,863 mentions went to Alexander McQueen.

At time of publish, nearly 9,000 people have joined a group called “Princess Beatrice’s ridiculous royal wedding hat”.

On Twitter there were reportedly some 67 mentions about the royal wedding every second. The promoted hashtag #royalwedding dominated, while #proudtobebritish also rose up the rankings. William and Kate, and Sarah Burton were similarly key in the top trending topics.

Some of the best images can be seen on The British Monarchy’s Flickr stream: www.flickr.com/photos/britishmonarchy

Here’s the full list of guest mentions on Facebook in the UK:

1    Kate Middleton
131,385 mentions
2    Prince William
104,747 mentions
3    Prince Harry
64,107 mentions
4    David Beckham
22,421 mentions
5    Victoria Beckham
12,346 mentions
6    Elton John
12,283 mentions
7    Princess Diana
11,103 mentions
8    Pippa Middleton
8,619 mentions
9    Prince Charles
6,791 mentions
10    Princess Beatrice
4,439 mentions
11    Princess Catherine
1,928 mentions
12    Princess Eugenie
1,385 mentions
13    Guy Ritchie
290 mentions

Digital snippets: Royal Wedding, Gap, Facebook Deals, Breitling

Some more great stories from around the web surrounding all things fashion and digital this week:

• Gap partners with Visa to alerts consumers via mobile to discounts and offers when in vicinity of a retail store [All Things D]

• Facebook launches ‘Deals on Facebook’ and in so doing promises to offer a more social experience than Groupon [AdAge]

• Breitling turns to Facebook to promote its “Spirit of Aviation” photography contest, winner selected by brand ambassador John Travolta to receive private pilot’s license trainig [Luxury Daily]

• And finally, how is it possible not to mention the royal wedding today: great post from Mashable on how to watch it online, as well as another about networks engaging consumers across multiple channels for what it’s saying is going to be the ultimate “two-screen experience”. Not far wrong – I personally will be combining BBC on the TV, with Twitter (#royalwedding) on my phone, the royal channel on YouTube and Vogue.com through my laptop. Enjoy!

Royal wedding to stream on YouTube

The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is set to be streamed live on YouTube via an official royal channel.

Over four hours of filming will capture the affair on April 29, incorporating the church service, the procession and the couple’s kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as husband and wife. The feed will come in from the BBC, but will not feature the broadcaster’s commentary.

“Staff at Clarence House and St James’s Palace will provide a live commentary with historical information, interesting links, additional photographs and video footage as well as an integrated Twitter feed,” said the palace in a statement.

There will also be a live multimedia blog from royal officials, while fans are invited to submit their own video of congratulations to the couple for an official “wedding book”.

Other interactive ways to follow the event include through the @ClarenceHouse Twitter feed, the www.officialroyalwedding2011.org website, and the British Monarchy Facebook page. The official Twitter hashtag will be #rw2011.

A total of 2bn people are expected to watch the event across the world. The question really though is how many seconds it will take for news of the dress designer to go global…?!

See the invite to the live-stream, here:

And if you really want a giggle, check out T-Mobile’s celebration of the day, with it’s Royal Wedding Dance video complete with a host of amusing lookalikes, here: