For Britons bored with the royal wedding or just keen to gamble, bookmakers have come up with bizarre and innovative bets to spend some money on all for a laugh.
The novelty bets include one on Kate’s father Michael Middleton crying as he walks her down the aisle. Bookmaker William Hill is offering 10/1 even odds for that. Excited
by the vast market on offer because of the royal wedding, the bookmakers are sepcially targeting women to get a segement of population traditionally not a good source of bets interested in betting.
For those hoping for a little drama in Westminster Abbey, there is a bet on offer for 22/1 that the bridegroom, Prince William, will split his trousers while bending down in the church. If that wasn’t dramatic enough, the bookmaker is offering 3/1 that the bride, Kate Middleton, will be nervous enough at the wedding service to “do a Diana” and say William’s names in the wrong order.
The then Lady Diana had accidentally reversed Prince Charles’ names in the right sequence — Charles Philip Arthur George — and called him “Philip Charles Arthur George” instead. Despite the military-style precision timing of the wedding procession, Kate is expected to be at least 12 minutes late for the service (6/1) to keep her prince waiting nervously. William surely would love to bet on this the other way.
Prince Harry, who is his elder brother’s best man, has a reputation of being a hellraiser and the bookmakers are betting on his unpredictable behaviour to offer some funny bets.
William Hill is predicting Harry will forget the ring (26/1), drop the wedding ring during the service (24/1), will not be able to make/finish his best man’s speech due to being inebriated (25/1), will catch the bouquet (19/1), meet his future wife at the wedding (16/1) and kiss the bride Kate on the balcony after the wedding (16/1) instead of his brother.
William’s grandfather, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who is well known for his ill-timed quips in the British media, thankfully has no speaking part in the royal wedding. However, the bookies are offering 8/1 that he will be captured on television cameras taking a nap during the wedding service.
The bride’s mother Carole Middleton has an uneasy relationship with the media, and this has manifested in a bet that she will be photographed chewing gum during the wedding service. William Hill is offering 23/1 that this will happen.
The bookies expect a huge attack of nerves for William and have offered 13/1 even that the 28-year-old prince will wear glasses during the service and 17/1 that he will have a beard during the service.
“You don’t get many opportunities such as these to celebrate as a nation and we hope punters will have fun on the day. We have already accepted bets on almost every eventuality, including Harry dropping the ring, Prince Phillip having a kip in the service and Kate getting William’s name wrong. Having a wager on the royal wedding has become a global phenomenon with at least one bet received from over 100 different countries,” said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams.
The bizarre betting does not just confine itself to bloopers at Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. William Hill is offering 8/1 odds that William and Kate will not be married on their 10th wedding anniversary. However, the romance of the royal wedding is still strong as the yes option is favourite at present with 1/20 odds.
Interestingly, William Hill has decided to rebranding the 80-year-old company from William Hill to William & Kate on April 29, the day of the wedding.