Royal courtiers were pondering on Wednesday how to tailor the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton to the austere¹ times and Britons began betting on the likely date for the ceremony.

本周三，英国皇室官员们开始考虑如何在当前的严峻形势下打造威廉王子和凯特·米德尔顿的婚礼，而英国国民们也开始给婚期下注。

Britain's Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton (L) pose for a photograph in St. James's Palace, central London November 16, 2010.

The wedding -- which according to one estimate will boost Britain's economy by nearly $1 billion -- has been widely hailed as a welcome respite²（缓解，暂缓） from budget cuts and belt-tightening.

But amidst the celebrations and the flood of congratulations from around the world, it has also raised the awkward（尴尬的，棘手的） question of who should foot the bill（负担费用） .

Buckingham Palace confirmed it was due to sit down with royal advisers³ to work out the details, but was tight-lipped on a likely date or whether the ceremony could be held at the kind of venues⁴（场地，场馆） that hosted his father's and his grandmother's nuptials⁵（婚礼） .

Queen Elizabeth married at Westminster Abbey. Charles and the late Princess Diana tied the knot（结婚） at St Paul's Cathedral.

William and Kate, both 28, have so far revealed only that the wedding will take place in either the spring or summer next year with bookmakers tipping July and August as favorites.

Bookmaker Graham Hill said July was marginally（少量地） ahead on 15/8 with August at 2/1.

July 29 -- the 30th anniversary of the spectacular（壮观的） wedding of his parents -- is another hot favorite, while the Daily Mail newspaper said royal aides had made "discreet⁶（谨慎的，小心的） overtures⁷" to Westminster Abbey about the possibility of August 12 or 13.

A spokesman for William said the couple would be "mindful of the economic situation" in a move clearly designed to show the palace remained in touch with ordinary people.

Britain's coalition⁸ government, led by the Conservative Party, last month unveiled deep public spending cuts to help tackle a record budget deficit⁹.

But Britons spoken to close to Buckingham Palace, in central London, appeared unfazed（无畏的，勇敢的） by the potential cost of the ceremony.

"It will bring more in than it costs to do, which is probably more than you can say about the Olympics," said Kevin Reed from Nottingham in central England.

Jan Cornworth, from Wolverhampton, central England, welcomed the news. "There's too much misery¹⁰ around," she said. "It's nice to have something good going on and it's for the people isn't it? -- as well as for them."