LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) – A royal wedding for austere times, horse-drawn carriages along the Mall, a service in Westminster Abbey, and a “battery” of television cameras.

Travel back in time and you’ll discover that the pomp and pageantry of British Prince William’s wedding played out in the glare of the global media is a near perfect replica of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth’s wedding day 64 years ago. A dive into the Reuters archives from November 20, 1947, when the then Princess Elizabeth married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, offers a striking picture of how little the formalities of royal occasions have changed in the intervening period despite huge changes in society and leaps in technology.

In the Britain in which William and Kate will marry, few people now wear hats to work on a daily basis, most people own a television, and the majority have little direct memory of World War Two.

Yet only a handful of paragraphs from the 1947 stories hint at these cultural differences.

“In normal times, terraced stands would have been erected all along the route,” Reuters correspondent Leslie Haynes wrote in a lengthy article detailing the planned procession.

“But Britain today is short of the necessary timber and steel, and in any case cannot spare from the industrial effort the man-hours required for the erection of such stands,” Haynes added, in reference to the huge efforts needed to rebuild Britain and its economy after the war.

Rationing was still in force in 1947, meaning families could only buy household goods like bread using government-issued coupons in an effort to avert food shortages.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Security forces and ordinary people tried to stop looters in major Egyptian cities on Sunday after five days of popular protest against the government.

Here is an overview of economic activity in Egypt:

* TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS

– The Suez Canal was operating normally, a canal official told Reuters.

– The head of the Red Sea Ports Authority said all 10 ports under its purview, including Suez, were operating as usual and the authority had received no cancellations from ships headed for Egypt. Other sources confirmed the ports were operating but said the curfew had slowed down work.

– Domestic air traffic and trains were operating, although officials told passengers to arrive at train stations and airports before the start of curfew at 4:00 p.m. local time.

– European airlines have canceled some international flights to Cairo but other flights, including some by EgyptAir, have continued, in some cases with delays.

Jan 30 (Reuters) – Security forces and ordinary people tried to stop looters in major Egyptian cities on Sunday after five days of popular protest against the government. [ID:nLDE70S0LV]

Here is an overview of economic activity in Egypt:

* TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS

— The Suez Canal was operating normally, a canal official told Reuters. [ID:nLDE70T0AL]

— The head of the Red Sea Ports Authority said all 10 ports under its purview, including Suez, were operating as usual and the authority had received no cancellations from ships headed for Egypt. Other sources confirmed the ports were operating but said the curfew had slowed down work.

— Domestic air traffic and trains were operating, although officials told passengers to arrive at train stations and airports before the start of curfew at 4:00 p.m. local time. — European airlines have cancelled some international flights to Cairo but other flights, including some by EgyptAir, have continued, in some cases with delays. [ID:nLDE70T056]

— The Cairo metro system was operating but not stopping at Cairo’s main Tahrir square, witnesses told Reuters.