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Chelsea's wedding: facts and (lots of) rumors

RHINEBECK, Thursday 29 July 2010 (AFP) - The dress, the guests, the music, even the bathroom arrangements: the world now knows everything about Chelsea Clinton's wedding. Or does it?

The Clinton family information war rolled on Thursday, keeping Chelsea's marriage to Wall Street banker Marc Mezvinsky under a lid even WikiLeaks, of Afghan war files fame, would have a hard time cracking.

Officially, almost all that's known is that Chelsea, 30, is to wed Mezvinsky, 32, the man she first met as a teenager, on Saturday. That's it.

The location, type of ceremony, guest list and color of the bride's dress remain unconfirmed.

But with barely a day to go, pinhole openings in the information barrier have opened and here is a summary of what else Chelsea watchers know -- or think they do.

LOCATION

All signals point to Rhinebeck, a quaint town in upstate New York. Paparazzi have snapped pictures of a huge white tent going up in the secluded grounds of Astor Courts estate. Local store owners testify to the presence of well-heeled out-of-towners and men talking into cell phones about security.

Another big clue: the Federal Aviation Authority on Thursday ordered airspace shut over the location during Saturday afternoon. The reason was "VIP (Very Important Person) Movement."

Chelsea might regret such extreme measures: gossip website www.gawker.com laments the no-fly zone means they won't be able to send a plane pulling a congratulations banner over the party.

GUESTS

Other than Chelsea's father, former president Bill Clinton, and mother, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, there are no confirmed celebrities. But gossip news hounds persistently mention Hollywood and Washington high-fliers.

The Hudson Valley News, a humble local weekly, that claims to have an inside angle on preparations, predicts Clinton friends as varied as Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, and, perhaps surprisingly, the former British prime minister John Major will attend.

One fact: President Barack Obama won't be there. "I am not going and I have to say, it would be tough enough having one president at a wedding, you don't want two presidents at a wedding," he told ABC's lightweight talk show, "The View," on Thursday.

THE DRESS

It's Vera Wang! Well, maybe not, but Womens Wear Daily, the fashion industry journal, snapped Chelsea and her mother visiting the hip designer in New York on Tuesday.

That would have solved one parlor game riddle. The problem, concedes WWD, is that Hillary Clinton also dropped into rival designer Oscar de la Renta's Manhattan showroom the same day.

THE TUNES

This is not one you'd want to place bets on, perhaps, but celebrity gossip site TMZ claims to know what the live band will play. That includes Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," Cat Stevens' "Wild World," and ABBA's "Dancing Queen."

BATHROOMS

A vital TMZ scoop: guests won't have to duck into the idyllic forests around Astor Courts to answer the call of nature. They'll be treated to 15,000 dollars worth of luxury porta-potty trailers.

"The portable latrines have actual porcelain toilets that flush, stereo music and hot running water -- oh yeah, and they're HUGE," TMZ gushes.

No source is cited. Call it another leak.

Kooky 2010.07.30

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