Carriages that will carry members of the wedding party also took part alongside mounted cavalry, with a full dress-rehearsal involving the clergy and broadcasters scheduled for Thursday.
Last minute rehearsals for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton got under way before dawn in central London on Wednesday with the royal couple expected to put the final touches to their preparations.
Roads around Buckingham Palace and along the route the couple will take from Westminster Abbey after Friday's service were closed as about 1,000 members of the armed forces took part in a full-scale practice for the couple's big day.
Carriages that will carry members of the wedding party also took part alongside mounted cavalry, with a full dress-rehearsal involving the clergy and broadcasters scheduled for Thursday.
The abbey itself has already been closed off to the public, and William and Middleton will be there for some final rehearsals on Wednesday, although royal officials declined to give details.
"As with anybody's wedding, you can imagine rehearsals happening up until the eve of the wedding," a spokesperson for William said.
Across the capital, bunting is going up and flags are beginning to be hoisted, with similar preparations around the country where about 5,500 street parties will be held.
A small army of media from around the world has descended on makeshift studios set up outside Buckingham Palace and along the route to cover the ceremony which one British minister predicted would attract a global TV audience of some two billion people.
"America and the world is really excited about a piece of great news," said Linda Bell Blue, executive producer of US entertainment news programme Entertainment Tonight, who is heading up a team of 70 staff for the wedding.
"It's been a pretty rough time around the world -- in West Asia and in Japan and the world economy -- and this is something to be happy about," she said.
"Americans love a big production. This is the Oscars on steroids. Its the pageantry, the enthusiasm, it's about what people are wearing."
Some royal fans have already begun camping outside the abbey to secure the best spots to watch Friday's events, and hundreds of thousands of people are expected to start arriving in London in the next days.
VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, is predicting an extra 600,000 tourists in the capital on the day, meaning there would be a total of some 1.1 million visitors with 40% of those coming from abroad.
"That could bring anything up to £50 million," a spokesperson said, adding the number of in-bound flights to Britain for the weekend had risen by 244%.
London and Partners, the agency which promotes the city, said it expected there would be 600,000 people actually lining the streets, the same number as came to watch the 1981 wedding of William's parents Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said the occasion would be a boon to a nation coping with government austerity measures which have resulted in drastic spending cuts and job losses.
"People across the country, and indeed across the world, are getting excited about the events on Friday," Cameron told Parliament.
The archbishop of York John Sentamu, the second most senior cleric in the Church of England, echoed those sentiments.
"This event I hope will give a lot of hope to a lot of people, particularly young people," he said in a TV interview published on his website.
Those who do go to London to watch the procession or camp out could be in for a cold and wet experience, with weather forecasters predicting showers and a brisk wind.
On Tuesday, police appealed to the public to help them spot any potential troublemakers, while promising that they would not tolerate any attempt to disrupt the event.
Some 5,000 police officers will be on duty to deal with potential threats ranging from international Islamist militants to anarchists and stalkers.
Meanwhile the one-and-a-half mile processional route has undergone a deep clean to get it looking spic and span.
A team of 130 street cleaners including 80 sweepers along with 30 vehicles are being lined up to deal with the 140 tonnes of waste expected to be left by those watching on Friday.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}