ITALY: A-list celebrities gather in Rome for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' wedding

Actress Brooke Shields was out taking in some of Rome's most famous sites on Friday (November 17), the day before Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are due to be married. Shields flew into Italy's capital on Thursday (November 16) in advance of the ceremony, raising some eyebrows that she had been invited to the wedding despite a public spat with 44-year-old Cruise last year after he criticised her for taking medication to treat post-natal depression. But all now seems to be forgotten and the actress was spotted walking down the Spanish Steps in the morning, one of the few A-list Hollywood guests who braved the outdoors and the waiting gaggle of paparazzi. As Shields shopped, other celebrities have been arriving at Rome's Ciampino airport. American movie star Will Smith was one of the first to arrive on Friday. "I just came to have a good time in Italy," Smith told reporters after landing at the airport. Soccer star and former England captain David Beckham and his wife Victoria declined to answer reporters' question as they made their way from Rome's Ciampino airport to a waiting car. The only reason Real Madrid's midfielder can make the party is because he is suffering from a knee injury and has been left out of the team for this Saturday's match against Racing Santander. For the younger guests, the tedium of being cooped up in a hotel for days was briefly interrupted by a clandestine trip to the park. Several children from the wedding party were driven to the nearby Villa Borghese park escorted by security guards and were allowed a few minutes to let off steam playing American football. Odescalchi (pronounced: Oday-skalki) castle, a medieval castle in the lakeside town of Bracciano, 40 km (25 miles) north of Rome, has been tipped as the venue for Saturday's wedding (November 18), although seasoned showbusiness watchers do not rule out a last-minute change of plan to outwit the media.

ITN Source | November 18, 2006

Tags:. .landing. .steps. .spotted. .shopped. .match