Christmas cracker as rival varieties came on the market. The other elements of the modern cracker—the gifts, paper hats and varied designs—were all introduced by Tom Smith's son, Walter Smith, to differentiate his product from the rival cracker manufacturers which had suddenly sprung up. Tom Smith merged with Caley Crackers in 1953. A memorial water fountain to Tom Smith and his family stands in Finsbury Square, London. The longest Christmas cracker pulling chain consisted of 1081 people and was achieved by The Harrodian School in Barnes, London, UK, on 10 December 2015. Passengers on commercial flights in the United States are explicitly
Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at 3 am, with a small fireworks display in the palace grounds. The wedding cake had a strong British floral theme, using elements of the Joseph Lambeth technique. It was an eight-tiered traditional fruit cake decorated with sugar paste flowers. The cake designer Fiona Cairns based in Fleckney, Leicestershire was chosen in February 2011 to create the wedding cake. Additionally, McVitie's created a groom's cake from chocolate biscuit for the reception at Buckingham Palace. The chocolate biscuit cake was made from a Royal Family recipe and was specially requested by Prince William. The wedding bouquet was returned to Westminster Abbey