Talbot Church: Downing St favours second royal wedding

The man the Royals trust..

It was that joker in the royal pack Prince "Teddy" Edward, who coined the phrase "confetti-chasers" to describe those who exploit a glorious royal wedding to their own advantage. There has certainly been some confetti-chasing since the nation's favourite couple pledged their troth in Westminster Abbey before an enthralled TV audience of billions. Pleased by the effect on the national mood, the Prime Minister is said to have offered the Palace a "sweetener" in the 2012 Civil List payments should Prince Harry get married that year.

"It was not just the feelgood factor which had Downing Street buzzing," a royal insider reveals. "The PM was impressed by the wedding's moral message. When primary schools held imitation weddings, that was a terrific propaganda coup for three great institutions: the Monarchy, the Church and the institution of marriage."

An announcement by Clarence House that "Catherine's primary role will be as an officer's wife" has also gone down well. "Under Labour, weforgot that being a wife is one of the most important jobs in the world,"a minister told me. "Kate has reminded us that a girl can stay at home andstill play her part."

Confetti-chasing of a less acceptable kind has caused considerable anger in Palace circles. Following the vulgar publication in the press of photographs of Philippa Middleton's lower back, there is rumoured to have been an approach for representation from the legendary Max Clifford. "No one has caused this kind of excitement since Jennifer Lopez," a source close to the PR guru has said.

As for those professional confetti-chasers, the royal correspondents, the days after a royal wedding are moments of profound melancholy. The great carnival has moved on, leaving Nick Witchell, Dickie Arbiter, Harry "Hugo" Vickers and the rest to earn a living from the occasional royal feature in a celebrity magazine or the odd interview for an American TV documentary – what is known in the trade as "the Fergie beat". Your correspondent will not be among them. I am fortunate enough to have been invited by Silvio Berlusconi, an old friend, to present Il Favoloso Mondo di Talbot Church, a series for Italian fans of our Royal Family, on one of his TV channels. Until the next great royal occasion, Arrivederci!