Beckhams lead celebrity presence at royal wedding****

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LONDON, Apr 29 (AFP): David and Victoria Beckham were among a host of celebrities and VIPS who arrived for Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal wedding at Westminster Abbey Friday. Former England football captain Beckham, wearing his OBE medal pinned to the right lapel of his grey Ralph Lauren morning suit and with slicked-back hair, queued with wife Victoria outside the abbey as the estimated 1,900 guests waited to take their seats at the biggest royal event for 30 years. Singer-turned-fashion designer Victoria, pregnant with the Beckhams' fourth child, was dressed in a midnight blue "trapeze" dress from her AutumnWinter 2011 collection, Philip Treacy hat, with hair pulled tightly back into a neat ponytail. Beckham, given time off to attend the wedding by his club LA Galaxy, got to know William, the president of the English Football Association, when they worked together to promote England's unsuccessful bid to win the right to host the 2018 World Cup. Other early arrivals seen filing through the abbey's Great North Door were "Mr Bean" actor Rowan Atkinson and Chelsy Davy, the on-off girlfriend of William's younger brother and best man Prince Harry. The guest list featured a host of celebrities also including singer Elton John together with his partner David Furnish, Guy Ritchie, who directed the cult 1990s film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and the singer Joss Stone. John, famous for his flamboyant stage outfits, was dressed in a restrained black morning coat and grey trousers. Australian Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe and England's World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward were among the first to arrive. Woodward, best known for England's 2003 World Cup triumph and now working for the British Olympic Association, invited William to join the British and Irish Lions' squad for their 2005 tour to New Zealand. "I'm just so glad to be British because the whole country's clearly behind this wonderful couple and it just should be a wonderful day," Woodward told the BBC. "He will be very nervous, and I'm a little bit nervous for him." Thorpe met William when he visited the swimmer's home country last year and the Prince has since supported the Australian's charitable organisation. Sir Trevor Brooking, an English Football Association colleague of William, chatted with the Beckhams, while Welsh rugby international Gareth Thomas was also invited. British socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson caught the eye with a striking royal blue dress and hat, while Earl Spencer, who paid a moving tribute to his sister - William's mother Diana, Princess of Wales in the abbey at her funeral in September 1997, arrived with his family. British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in a traditional morning suit with wife Samantha and they were joined by Mayor of London Boris Johnson. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard arrived just before 0900GMT and was due to be followed by representatives of 50 other governments. There were some less famous faces among the guests, who began lining up outside the abbey before the doors were opened at 0715 GMT. Hash and Chan Shingadia were among a group of shop owners invited from Kate's home village of Bucklebury in Berkshire, west of London, with local butcher Martin Fidler and wife Sue, and John Haley, owner of the Old Boot Inn in nearby Stanford Dingley also on the guest list.