Church in spoof wedding advert charges visitors £4

A church used as the location for a spoof royal wedding advertisement charges visitors to go inside, it emerged today.

The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great in West Smithfield accepted £3,500 for its role in a T-Mobile advert in which royal family and Archbishop of Canterbury lookalikes dance down the aisle to the song House Of Love by East 17.

The church's rector, the Rev Martin Dudley, said the advert - which became a YouTube sensation - was "part of the celebration of the wedding".
Now it has emerged that the church, which has featured in several films including Four Weddings And A Funeral, charges visitors £4 to enter and £1 to take a photograph. Those wishing to pray can use a side chapel free.

Verger Philip Stewart said: "It's a fact of life. Cathedrals and abbeys have charged for some time and because this is such a unique parish, it is hard to maintain so we have to charge."

Before the admission fee was introduced by the church council in April 2007, visitors were asked to put £3 in a donation box. However, according to Mr Stewart the donations and the collection were not enough to pay the £95 an hour it costs to maintain the church.

Other churches in the capital to charge include Temple Church which has a fee of £3.