THE new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge left for the first part of their honeymoon yesterday to a mystery location somewhere in Britain as the UK recovered from one of the biggest celebrations in years.

William and Kate were whisked away by helicopter after emerging hand-in-hand from Buckingham Palace. The short break will be followed by a proper honeymoon overseas at a later date.

Their UK destination is shrouded in secrecy, with William having apparently not even told his wife where they are going, but speculation is rife, with Balmoral high the list of possible destinations. Thirty years ago, William’s parents spent part of their honeymoon at the Highland hideaway.

William will this week return to his job as an RAF search-and-rescue pilot.

Possible destinations for the “honeymoon proper” include Translyvania, where Prince Charles owns property, and the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique, where Carole and Michael Middleton are frequent visitors. William is also known to love Africa and there is speculation he could later take his new wife back to Kenya, where he proposed.

Also yesterday, in keeping with a royal tradition begun by the Queen Mother, the bridal bouquet was left on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey.

Official photographs of the couple taken in Buckingham Palace’s Throne Room after the ceremony have also been released. The pictures are by Hugo Burnand, who also took the wedding portraits of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2005.

Burnand said he discussed the images with Kate and William. He said: “It was a team effort. She does have a good knowledge and keen interest in photography.

“She had good ideas. She put them to me. I used my technical knowledge and together we came up with [the pictures].”

The wedding is expected to be the most-watched TV event of the decade. More than 24 million viewers watched BBC1 and ITV1 coverage, with more than nine million watching live via the BBC website.

The BBC said 9.4 million people on average had watched BBC1 between 8am and 11am, with 17.5 million watching in the last 15 minutes. There was a peak of 6.1 million viewers watching the wedding ceremony on ITV1.

However, no-one – apart from the guests – got to see what happened at the reception party held in Buckingham Palace’s ballroom in the evening.

Some 300 people were invited to the bash, which included Prince Harry’s best man speech and a performance from chart star Ellie Goulding.

Kate Middleton’s sister, Pippa, has also been propelled into the limelight following the wedding. Family friend Tony Ainsworth said: “Everyone’s talking about Pippa. She looked stunning. She’s the most eligible girl in the country right now.”

Celebrations also continued in and around Kate’s home village of Bucklebury, Berkshire. John Haley, the owner of the Old Boot Inn in nearby Stanford Dingley, was one of several residents from the village to have attended the wedding – and had to rush back afterwards as he was throwing a party for 350 guests in his pub.

Hundreds had gathered earlier on the village green to watch the wedding service on a giant TV screen.

Meanwhile, the bridal dress created a boom in internet traffic as women flocked to find similar fashions. Internet retailer ShopStyle said its website had seen the Alexander McQueen label jump into its top 40 search terms after the fashion house was confirmed as the creator of the dress.