ITALY / FILE: Uncertainty over whether much hyped wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes will take place in mediaeval castle at Bracciano in Italy

Will it be 'Mission Impossible' for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes to have a legally binding Italian wedding next week? - well nobody knows the answer and nobody can even say if the wedding will go ahead. The couple announced in October that they would get married on November 18 in Italy, with Giorgio Armani designing Holmes' wedding gown. The venue is believed to be a medieval castle overlooking a lake at Bracciano, some 40kms north of Rome - but nobody is confirming or denying the event. There were certainly some bemused faces around the town on Thursday (November 9) which boasts a population of 13,000 many of whom are over 60-years old as television crews and photographers mingled with pensioners out for their daily stroll. "I cannot confirm because I do not have any official confirmation. It is my great hope as well as that of all Bracciano citizens that this great event may take us on the international scene," said Bracciano's mayor Patrizia Riccione. A devout Scientologist, it remains unclear as to whether or not the twice-divorced Cruise can have a legally-binding Catholic ceremony and the mayor says she has seen no paperwork for any kind of civil ceremony "I don't know what kind of rite they will chose or what they want to do. I think it is unlikely it will have a legal value. In Italy, you need papers and procedures that we have not be informed of, but do not ask me about international procedures because I don't know how it might work. This will not be an Italian civil wedding for sure, but I'm pretty sure there are procedures regarding wedding following different rites'," Riccione said. Wedding-watchers have cautioned that if Cruise and his future bride go ahead with a Scientology ceremony, it likely won't be recognised by the Italian state. The potential legal snag has done nothing to quell anticipation around Castello Odescalchi, a castle which has hosted a pope and kings. Big names such as John Travolta, David and Victoria Beckham and Martin Scorsese are all expected but even this doesn't interest some of the residents. "I don't care about the wedding and the stars. My husband looks like John Travolta anyway" said one elderly lady as she passed by. But most of the town is happy about the excitement on their streets. "We will go to the wedding, but we won't see anything, just black cars. But it's great for Bracciano, to give life back to this dead town' said pensioner Maria Rosati. "We don't care much about it, but we are happy because it will make money, and money is always useful" said pensioner Lucio Maroni sitting on a bench with his friends outside the castle. Europe and Rome, in particular, has already provided backdrops to some of the most public moments for "TomKat", as tabloids have dubbed the couple. Rome is where the couple first made their romance public in late April 2005, and where Cruise, 44, first spoke to reporters about the joys of fatherhood in April 2006 after Holmes, 27, gave birth to their daughter Suri.

ITN Source | November 15, 2006

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