By Carla S Reissman Jul 29, 2010, 2:10 GMT
New York - Americans love royalty, but have none of their own.
That's why all eyes are on Chelsea Clinton - the only child of power couple Hillary Rodham Clinton, the chief US diplomat, and former US president Bill Clinton - and a young woman who cherishes her privacy.
This weekend, the spotlight will fall on the tiny town of Rhinebeck, New York, population 8,000, where Clinton, 30, is expected to tie the knot Saturday with longtime boyfriend and investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, 32.
There's been no official confirmation, but all signs point to Rhinebeck as the location of the 'wedding of the century,' New York newspapers report.
Rhinebeck's location two hours north of New York City and only an hour away from Hillary and Bill Clinton's home in Chappaqua, New York, as well as the secrecy of local shopkeepers have reinforced the expectation that wedding bells will ring there for the couple.
The problem with an American 'royal's wedding' is this: When European royalty marries, it's all done with public cameras rolling, as they did when Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria got hitched recently to Daniel Westling.
But with the Clintons, everything is 'top secret.'
'Details are harder to ferret out than the president's Afghanistan strategy,' wrote the New York Times.
There's plenty to talk about in Rhinebeck, but all the shopkeepers - and even the guests - are keeping mum. According to the Times, the chocolate, flower and wine shops have all signed a pledge of secrecy, and are keeping it.
But other signs point to the 'social event of the season' - such as full bookings at the area's fanciest hotels. In nearby Staatsburg, all 31 rooms at the plush Belvedere Mansion were booked within one 24-hour period.
Rhinebeck residents have seen helicopters circling suspiciously close over Astor Courts, a luxury mansion in Beaux-Arts style owned by a woman who was a major donor to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. The estate bears all the hallmarks of top-hat lineage, having been built in 1902 by US millionaire John Jacob Astor IV, who died 10 years later when the Titanic sank.
The security around Astor Courts has been compared to that at the US military prison on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Two photo journalists who ignored the 'no trespassing' sign were promptly arrested and face up to 15 days in jail.
Mezvinsky and Chelsea Clinton became friends as teenagers in Washington and later attended Stanford University together. They currently live in New York where Mezvinsky works at investment bank Goldman Sachs. Clinton, who got a master's degree at Columbia University's School of Public Health earlier this year, works at a hedge fund.
Mezvinsky is also a political child - the son of two former Democratic Congress representatives Ed Mezvinsky and Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinksy, a one-time New York TV-personality-turned- politician.
Both are old friends of the Clintons. Marc's father served a prison term for bank and wire fraud after he pleaded guilty to charges in 2002. He was released last year.
Speculation about the list of guests includes President Barack Obama, talkshow queen Oprah Winfrey, singer Barbra Streisand and Hollywood director Steven Spielberg.
If secrecy is the word for Chelsea's wedding, the opposite is true of her parents' effusive enthusiasm when her engagement was announced late last year.
Mama Clinton now brags about using the initials 'MOTB' in her State Department correspondence - for Mother Of The Bride. She has called Chelsea's wedding the 'most important' event in her life at present, despite her far-reaching diplomatic travels that recently took her to South Korea and Pakistan.
Papa Bill recently promised he would not cry at the wedding.
And Chelsea reportedly urged her father to lose a few pounds before leading her to the altar, broadcaster CBS News reported.
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