Rebecca, a public health service employee will not be attending one of the several street parties being held in her hometown Chester to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on Friday, April 29th.

“In fact I can't think of a single person I know who is,” she says. “It's just been wedding overload for the last few weeks.”

She isn't alone. In fact, a poll conducted by ICM last month revealed an astonishing 46 per cent were “largely indifferent,” and another 32 per cent “couldn't care less,” about the wedding. Just 21 per cent plan to watch the wedding as it takes place, according to research firm Invisible Hand.

And thanks to the wedding day being decreed a bank holiday by the Prime Minister, Britons are fleeing the country in even larger numbers than the usual Easter holiday exodus: budget airline Ryanair, for example, has said that bookings are 10 per cent above the same period a year ago.

“The Mall and Westminster Abbey might look a little empty on their big day,” joked the airline's Chief Executive Michael O'Leary, referring to the road running from Buckingham Palace, where the Royal Wedding procession will kick off, and the church where the ceremony will take place.

“I doubt I'll be watching the service,” said Rachel, a radio producer living in South London, who is travelling to the remote Scottish Isle of Skye for the period. “I can't say that I'm sad to be getting away.”

That wedding ennui has gripped the country is hardly surprising: any recent visitor to London will not have escaped the wedding-related sensory overload that awaits you whether you walk down the street, turn on the television or scan through newspaper and magazine racks. China mugs and plates of the beaming couple (made in China, of course) line shop windows, while everyone from mobile-phone shops to jewellers are running wedding-related promotions – and not only in the touristy parts of town.

The media frantically speculates about The Dress, chronicles every minute detail of the Middleton family history, and debates the finer details of wedding etiquette. Forget the conflict in Libya, or the plight of the British economy – shouldn't Prime Minister David Cameron be wearing a traditional ‘morning' suit to the wedding, rather than a lounge suit? (In fact the issue became so much of a bone of contention that the Prime Minister issued a public statement that he would be wearing a morning suit after all).

If only it stopped there – Pizza chain Papa John's has commissioned a “Wedding Pizza” featuring an image of the Royal couple made out of meat, cheese, and vegetables, while US-made Will and Kate – The Movie was broadcast on TV during the Easter break that preceded the wedding.

“They seem to be drumming out [public] enthusiasm out of nowhere,” remarked Rebecca.

While some Britons' response to the wedding-frenzy is to escape, others believe there is a more serious point to be made.

British anti-monarchist group Republic will be holding a “Not the Royal Wedding” street party in central London, after an initial attempt to hold the party was rejected by the local council and already has around 500 signed up to the event.

“The monarchy is an institution we oppose and want to challenge and if we ignore these big PR events we lose the opportunity to drive our message home,” says Graham Smith, campaign manager at Republic.

The Royal Wedding has already bolstered public interest in the group, with membership up by several thousands since the wedding was announced in November, said Smith.

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