WRAP Highlights of royal wedding ceremony

(9 Sep 2004) SHOTLIST
1. Motorcade arriving at Istana Nurul Iman palace
2. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi arriving
3. Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito arriving
4. Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri arriving
5. Filipino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo arriving
6. Wide shot of hall with Brunei Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and bride Sarah Salleh seated
7. Brunei Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and bride Sarah Salleh seated, zoom in to Salleh
8. Various of ceremony
9. Bride Sarah Salleh's parents seated
10. Brunei Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah's parents seated
11. Ceremony
12. Various of Brunei Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and Crown Princess Sarah walking
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Voxpop, Australian tourist (No name given):
"(It's an) experience that I'm very, very proud to have the chance to see. The same with my two cousins that came with me for a brief holiday in Sabar and then to Brunei."
14. Brunei Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and Crown Princess Sarah walking out
15. Brunei Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and Crown Princess Sarah inside vehicle as seats are being raised electronically
16. Various of Brunei Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and Crown Princess Sarah inside vehicle
17. Flags
18. Back shot of Brunei Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and Crown Princess Sarah inside vehicle
19. Soldiers marching in rain
20. Brunei Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and Crown Princess Sarah inside vehicle as it's raining heavily
21. Various of motorcade
22. Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah inside vehicle
23. Umbrellas covering Brunei Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and Crown Princess Sarah
24. Aerial of Istana Nurul Iman palace
25. Brunei Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and Crown Princess Sarah leaving vehicle
STORYLINE
The future king of the oil-rich sultanate of Brunei married a 17-year-old half-Swiss commoner on Thursday in Asia's wedding of the year, attended by royalty and dignitaries from around the world.
Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah, 30, son of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah - the absolute and fabulously wealthy ruler of 350-thousand subjects - wed Sarah Salleh before two-thousand people in a traditional Malay Muslim ceremony at Istana Nurul Iman, the 1,788-room main palace.
The sultan escorted the prince - wearing a gold crown and a kris dagger tucked into his sash - to a golden chair on the dais. He was joined by his bride, who emerged from a stateroom more than an hour behind schedule.
The prince placed a hand on Sarah's diamond tiara as Muslim marriage prayers were recited for the centuries-old ceremony. She stood radiant in an embroidered blue dress and veil and clasped a gold-and-diamond bouquet.
They then descended from the dais and kissed the sultan for his blessing.
The couple travelled in an open gold-coloured Rolls-Royce stretch limousine on an eight-kilometre (five-mile) parade across the capital, accompanied by 103 limousines and vehicles carrying family members as a marching band played.
A tropical downpour sent thousands of people - many who had lined the streets since daybreak - scurrying for cover after catching a glimpse of the
motorcade.
Soldiers with submachine guns stood every 100 metres (yards).
Earlier, a 21-gun salute sounded as Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito and presidents Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines arrived and took their seats on gold-trimmed chairs in the cavernous, chandelier-lined main hall at the palace.
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