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William and Kate wedding set for instant download

LONDON - Prince William and Kate Middleton are set to storm into the charts after tying the knot, with the almost instant release of their wedding ceremony for download, record producers said Wednesday.

An audio recording of the entire ceremony, due to take place at London’s Westminster Abbey on April 29, will be available within hours on Apple’s iTunes and other leading online stores.

The recording will be released in record shops worldwide six days later by classical label Decca Records and music bosses expect millions of people to snap it up.

Decca also recorded the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981, as well as Diana’s funeral in 1997 following her death in a Paris car crash.

But the wedding of William, second in line to the throne, and his university sweetheart will be the first occasion a British royal event has been released almost immediately for download.

The recording will be ‘the first official royal wedding album ever to enter the worldwide digital charts’, said Decca president Dickon Stainer.

The Abbey’s choir, the Chapel Royal Choir, the London Chamber Orchestra and Royal Air Force musicians are among those confirmed to perform.

Prominent classical producer Anna Barry, who has previously worked with artists including Jose Carreras and Andrew Lloyd Webber, will be in charge of the recording.

‘This is a great honour and an enormous responsibility,’ she said.

‘The wedding means so much to millions of people all over the world — we have to capture every note and every nuance perfectly and have the recording ready within minutes of the end of the ceremony.’