The Queen had offered Kate an apartment in Buckingham Palace for her last night as a single woman, but Kate insisted on something more neutral. Not that her choice of hotel -- the first in the world to offer central heating and private bathrooms -- is boring. The Goring would gore just about anyone's budget: Kate, her sister Pippa and her mother Carole will stay in a five-room suite that goes for 5,000 pounds, or $7,900, a night.

The suite recently underwent a $240,000 makeover, and is a mishmash of antiques and gadgetry. Kate can tickle the ivories on a grand piano, if she so chooses. She can gaze at a prototype of Queen Victoria's wedding gown in a glass-front armoire as she waits to don her own still carefully guarded dress (which will mostly likely be white, a tradition that Victoria herself started). She can even practice her royal sitting duties on a plush throne.

Speaking of royal thrones, the bathroom features an original toilet by the 19th century plumber Thomas Crapper, who outfitted many a royal water closet. "The Venerable" is written right across the toilet rim. Just think of all the venerable bottoms that toilet has seen! Whoever designed the bathroom has a sense of humor: There is a framed, formal looking painting of the TV character Blackadder, played by Rowan Atkinson (aka Mr. Bean), kissing the hand of Queen Elizabeth. If Kate wants to watch reruns of "Blackadder" in the bath, she'll find a waterproof flat screen hanging over her toes. The bridal shower stall is also a stark contrast to the historic Crapper -- a giant glass box that looks like something out of a peep show, or at least a Vegas suite.

It's unlikely that Kate will get up to too many "What Happens in Vegas" shenanigans on her last night of freedom. She's already had her "hen night," the British term for bachelorette party; the details have not been made public, but it appears to have been a low-key affair at a friend's house organized by Pippa, possibly with a "Dirty Dancing" theme. Wouldn't it be awesome to see Prince William surprise Kate at their wedding reception by lifting her over his head a la Patrick Swayze and twirling her around?

Hen nights are a fairly recent phenomenon. When Diana married Prince Charles in 1981, no one expected her to hang out with female friends before the wedding (although there was a raucous week-before-ceremony ball featuring a cocktail called "A Long Slow Comfortable Screw up against the Throne"). In 1986, though, as Sarah Ferguson's wedding to Prince Andrew drew near, Fergie gathered a group of women, including Di, and danced the night away at Annabel's, a trendy nightclub.

The night of Prince Andrew's stag party, Fergie and Di, along with a comedienne friend, dressed up as cops and tried to gatecrash the bacchanal, also at Annabel's. Little did the women know that the party had been moved to a friend's home; they ended up hanging out at the club in their disguises, anyway. Diana reportedly told a fellow trying to buy them drinks, "Sorry, we never drink on duty."

It's good to think of Diana having fun. The night before her own wedding was grim: She was left alone at Clarence House, the residence of the Queen Mother, who never came to her to answer questions about la vida royal or even offer a kind word. Diana threw up after dinner, and later said that she had felt like a lamb being led to slaughter. When Diana shared her desire to back out of the wedding with her sisters, they laughed and told her it was too late, saying, "Your picture is already on the tea towels." Of all the royal wedding commemoratives Kate and William have approved, tea towels are not among them.

Kate's last night as a commoner is bound to be much happier than Diana's. She is marrying her true love, after all, on her own terms. It's easy to picture Kate in the Goring suite with her sister and mom, all curled up together on Kate's large four poster bed. They push a button and a large TV screen rises out of the chest at the foot of the duvet. "Dirty Dancing" is on, and they start to bounce around singing "I Had the Time of My Life" at the top of their lungs, amazed at the course their lives have taken.