Kate at Abbey for final rehearsal

Bride-to-be Kate Middleton arrived at Westminster Abbey today for her last rehearsal ahead of her wedding.

She was joined by best man Prince Harry, as well as the bridesmaids and pageboys and members of her family for the preparations just one day before the much-anticipated ceremony.

It is the last time Miss Middleton or a member of the Royal Family will be at the abbey before the service gets under way tomorrow, St James’s Palace said.

Harry and his future sister-in-law returned to the abbey almost 12 hours after they were last in the ancient building.

A big rehearsal lasting 90 minutes was held last night involving all the principal individuals involved in the ceremony.

Among the group were Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who will marry the couple, and the bride’s father Michael Middleton.

It is thought that Kate’s maid of honour Pippa Middleton also joined the group today for the eve-of-wedding practice.

She will play an integral part in the ceremony and probably has the added job of looking after the younger bridesmaids, who include three-year-old Eliza Lopes, granddaughter of the Duchess of Cornwall.

Fifteen minutes after Harry and Miss Middleton arrived at 9.30am in a number of people carriers with blacked-out windows, the fanfare team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force arrived for a rehearsal.

The fanfare team have made several media appearances this morning, performing for the BBC and American broadcaster NBC before going into the abbey.

They will be playing a specially-commissioned fanfare for the wedding called Valiant And Brave, the motto of No 22 Squadron, with which William serves as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot.

The musical piece will be performed just before the procession of the newly-married couple through the abbey.