Here's How Kate Middleton and Prince William Will Spend Their Last Night of Freedom

Couple will spend final night as singles apart—and we have the full scoop on their plans

By Marianne Garvey Apr 28, 2011 9:10 PMTags
Kate Middleton, Prince WilliamChris Jackson/Getty Images

Tomorrow, she becomes a royal. But tonight, Kate Middleton is still an ordinary (well, maybe not so ordinary) commoner, and will be spending her final hours before she becomes a princess not at one of the many palaces the Windsors have scattered around London, but at the tony Goring Hotel, located a crumpet's throw away from Buckingham Palace in the posh Belgravia neighborhood.

The future queen of England is holed up there with her parents Carole and Michael Middleton, her sister (and maid of honor!) Pippa, and her brother James. The close-knit family has set up shop in the top floor penthouse suite, which overlooks a private garden. (Of course it does.)

But where is Prince Charming—err, William?

Unlike last night when Wills hit up South London's Battersea Park on—ready for this?—a Ducati to play soccer with his boyhood Eton pals, he'll be spending tonight with his dad Prince Charles.

Hang on—he hit up Battersea Park on a what now?

"No one even knew he was out on his motorcycle until the Sun caught him, it was shocking he was out like that right before the wedding. doubt he'll be up to any of that this evening," said Greg Pistor, a native Londoner who came to check out the scene outside Buckingham Palace this morning.

Tomorrow, Wills will prepare for the big day at St. James's Palace (his father's official London home) with both his dad and brother Prince Harry.

As for Middleton, her prep will take place in a recently redecorated suite at The Goring—the room will come complete with a four-poster bed, plush yellow velvet couches, an original Thomas Crapper toilet (stop laughing), a flat-screen TV in the bathroom (the historic hotel was the first to feature private bathrooms in each room) and silk wallpaper. And how's this for fanning the flames of pre-wedding nerves: the family-run hotel in Belgravia has also long displayed—within the confines of a glass box—a silk wedding gown thought to be an exact replica of the one worn by Queen Victoria at her own wedding to Prince Albert in 1840.

But it's not just for that reason (or the more current one) that the hotel has a long history with being connected to the royals—Queen Elizabeth ate scrambled eggs there when she was still only Princess Elizabeth during World War II. Impressed yet?

Still, there's no word on whether the Middletons got a discount (or are even being charged) but rooms at the hotel normally run between $670 and $2,525 per night.