Naomi Watts Jets In For Pal Nicole’s Nuptials

SYDNEY, Australia (June 21, 2006) — Naomi Watts jetted into Sydney early Wednesday for the wedding of her longtime friend Nicole Kidman to Keith Urban. The ceremony is widely expected to be held this weekend.

Watts, who was born in Britain but raised in Australia, arrived on a flight from New York wearing a gray sweater and black pants, her hair pulled back with a purple headband.

“I’m very excited for my friend,” Watts told reporters after saying she wasn’t “at liberty to discuss” any details of the event. She and Kidman met when they were young actresses in Sydney.

Watts was expected to attend a bachelorette party for Kidman later Wednesday at the home of Kidman’s sister, Antonia, local media reported.

The guest list for the wedding, expected to be held Sunday, reportedly includes Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Rupert Murdoch and his wife, Wendi Deng, and Murdoch’s Sydney-based son Lachlan and his wife, model Sarah O’Hare.

Kidman celebrated her 39th birthday Tuesday with a dinner at her parents’ home in the northern Sydney suburb of Greenwich. Kidman and Urban arrived in a black Aston Martin and were greeted by a handful of fans.

The pair are reportedly staying in separate residences in the days leading up to their wedding — Kidman in her harborside mansion and the 38-year-old country music star at a downtown hotel.

It is Urban’s first marriage, but the second for Kidman, who ended her 10-year union with Tom Cruise in 2001.

Although she has kept details of her nuptials strictly secret, Kidman’s relationship with the media has improved since last year, when she accused two Sydney-based photographers of allegedly stalking her and planting a listening device outside her home. The case was eventually settled.

On Tuesday, she emerged from her home and briefly posed for photographs after members of the media sang “Happy Birthday” over the intercom. She later sent out bottles of water and a case of beer with an attached note saying: “Enjoy! Nicole and Keith.”

Kidman was born in Hawaii but raised in Australia. Urban, who is based in Nashville, Tenn., was born in New Zealand but also raised in Australia.

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