Do you sometimes get the feeling you are being led a merry dance, or up the garden path and down an Irish country mile? That’s what the wedding of Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly on Saturday at Windsor, is beginning to feel like.

The wedding has been full of contradictions from the moment it was announced.

First, it would be held at Windsor, but then it was moved to Scotland — to the church at Balmoral. Now it’s back at Windsor again in St. George’s Chapel and with a full complement of Royal guests.

Then we were assured that Peter would renounce his rights of succession to the Throne, as his bride-to-be is a Roman Catholic. But hold on, Autumn will now renounce her Catholicism instead.

The situation has not been much clearer over the girlfriend duo either. Chelsy Davy wasn’t invited at first, but Kate Middleton was. Now Chelsy is invited but Kate won’t go.

Prince William would be a supporter (best man), then an usher. Now he’s going on holiday. His change of mind is alternatively given as a reluctance to see Kate upstage Autumn, or as a gesture against the pre-wedding publicity.

Could all this be a deliberate ploy to keep the press and public guessing, or is the whole wedding a fiasco worthy of Gordon Brown?

Peter is known for being an intensely private man with few pretensions. The wedding, we were told, would be low-key and mostly off-camera. Now the couple has sold the wedding to Hello! magazine, which published a 20-page spread last week. Hello! also has some rights to exclusive pictures of the wedding itself. The fee is reported to be £500,000 ($1m).

It does seem to be a strange way to organize what is, in all but name, a Royal wedding at Windsor in the presence of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Or might they be delayed on their return from a State visit to Turkey?

Anything could happen between now and Saturday. We’ve got our ears to the ground. Both of them.

Dean Rousewell of The People (UK) is reporting that the Hello! magazine spread of Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly, prior to their wedding on Saturday, did influence Prince William and Kate Middleton to pull out of the occasion.

“Royal sources say the pair grew wary after Princess Anne’s son and blonde Autumn signed a £500,000 [$1m] deal with celebrity mag Hello!”

A “senior aide” is reported to have told The People, “William and Kate had provisionally agreed to go. But it became obvious there was a danger of the whole thing turning into a disaster. Kate was very concerned about how it would be seen if attention was focused on her. And when William heard about the mag deal his mind was made up. The Queen also thought it was a wise decision. Her motto has always been: ‘Never let light in on the magic’ — the Royals must retain their mystique. A holiday was arranged and William told Peter it was for the best.”

Peter inherited £6m ($12m) in the Queen Mother’s will and has a well-paid job with Royal Bank of Scotland. Autumn is the PA to Michael Parkinson, a broadcasting legend in Britain. They live in a cottage on Princess Anne’s Gatcombe estate.

We have to remember that the previous Royal Editor of The People was jailed for tapping into the mobile phone voicemail of members of the Royal Family, including Prince William.

Does the present incumbent have such impeccable sources? We shall see.

I’m inclined to believe this story though as it matches my own speculation when the news first broke.

In the wake of her recent successful stay at Windsor Castle, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has been talking about her impressions of the Queen and the British Monarchy.

“It was terribly scary but also an incredible adventure,” she said. “It was like arriving on another planet. Never in my life did I think I would meet the Queen of England.”

She told of her amazement that the Queen personally showed her to the apartment where she would be staying at Windsor Castle, and said, “Here’s your bathroom.”

The French First Lady admits she took a crash course in Royal protocol before the visit. “I asked for advice from the protocol section of the Elysee, but also from the British Ambassador’s wife. I tried to imagine how to do the curtsy.”

The Royals were “a real family,” she declared. “One really feels it when one is with them. And for me it was an absolute honour.”

Carla seems to have hit it off with the Duke of Edinburgh. He played the perfect host as the Queen and the President chatted in French.

“Prince Philip is a person with whom it seemed to me very easy to follow protocol.” He also had “impeccable French”. The Duke had explained “everything that was going on, what we saw, the right thing to do. … He’s a fantastic guide.”

The British public and press were very taken with her too.

Prince William and Prince Harry were at the City Salute extravaganza in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral last night.

Princes William and Harry with injured servicemen and relatives

Sharing the limelight with the Lord Mayor of London, who presided, the mounted Household Cavalry — their own regiment — various squadrons from the RAF and Royal Navy, Jeremy Clarkson and Joss Stone, the two Princes mingled with the crowd of injured servicemen and their relatives.

Various displays were put on, including a Son et Lumiere light show on the facade of the Cathedral. A banquet was later held in the ancient Guildhall in Cheapside.

It was hoped to raise £500,000 ($1m) for Headley Court Military rehabilitation centre in Surrey.

The first hour was broadcast live by BBC2.