So The Point Was?

What a friggin' scam! What was the point of all of this?

The celebrities have arrived, the flowers arranged and the limousines are on stand-by, but yesterday there was some confusion over whether Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were actually getting married, in the traditional sense of the term.

The Hollywood couple, who have spent the past week in a £2,000-a-night suite at the Hotel Hassler in Rome, have not applied for either a civil or a church ceremony, and are expected to pledge their vows under the Church of Scientology.

However, Scientology is not legally recognised in Italy, or anywhere else, and any rites performed under it are merely ceremonial.

"There is no marriage," admitted Iris Novello, a spokesman for Bracciano town council. "This is not legal here, and there will be nothing formal about the wedding." She said the couple simply wanted to mark their relationship and the council had not been asked to issue a marriage licence.