Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are spending millions more on their wedding than Prince William and Kate Middleton did

Getty/Julian Finney

There's nothing cheap about a royal wedding.

• Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are getting married at St. George's Chapel, in Windsor, on May 19.
• The wedding is expected to cost more than $45 million (£32 million), most of which is allotted for security, and the royal family will pay for it.
• That's over $10 million more than the estimated cost of Prince William and Kate Middleton's 2011 nuptials.

There's nothing cheap about a royal wedding.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are set to be married on May 19 at St. George's Chapel, in Windsor, and will begin a carriage procession immediately after the ceremony. Their reception will take place later on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Security costs to protect the bride and groom, the rest of the royal family, VIP guests, and thousands of onlookers will run Kensington Palace a whopping $43 million (£30 million), estimates Bride Book. That includes the cost of snipers, undercover police, military technology, and security drones.

The bulk of Kate Middleton and Prince William's 2011 wedding budget similarly went to security costs, but their total wedding tab came in at $34 million (£23.7 million) - about $10 million below the expected cost of this month's wedding.

Markle and Prince Harry's wedding will cost a total of $45.8 million (£32 million), according to Bride Book's estimation.

Kensington Palace will cover the cost of the wedding, an expense traditionally taken on by the bride's family. The case was the same for Middleton and Prince William's wedding - the only item Middleton paid for was her six-figure Alexander McQueen wedding dress. Markle will reportedly do the same, and may even design a custom tiara that's worth nearly $700,000.

After security costs, Markle and Prince Harry's total wedding spend, including food, cakes, entertainment, wardrobe, and the honeymoon, amounts to about $2.8 million. Here's where most of the wedding budget will be spent, according to Bride Book:

• Food and drinks - $686,000 (£479,000)
• Outdoor marquee for the reception - $500,000 (£350,000)
• Music (DJ, live band, trumpet players) - $430,000 (£300,000)
• Invitations and wedding favors - $290,800 (£203,000)
• Production/decoration - $186,000 (£130,000)
• Flowers - $157,600 (£110,000)