THE champagne is on ice, the paparazzi are lurking in the bushes and Lake Como’s most luxurious hotel is a sea of white flowers.

The only thing missing is the bride and groom — or indeed the certainty that the happy couple will turn up.

Como has been awash with rumours for months that Brad Pitt, 42, and Angelina Jolie, 30, would be married today at the Renaissance era hotel Villa d’Este at Cernobbio, with a reception afterwards at George Clooney’s nearby lakeside residence, the Villa Oleandra at Laglio. Another rumour is that the wedding could be at the Clooney villa, where workmen have spent the week installing new spiked railings.

Speculation reached fever pitch yesterday.

Giuseppe Salvioni, a spokesman for Simona Saladini, the Mayor of Cernobbio, said that he “believed” that Hollywood’s most celebrated couple were in Milan. But he had “no information” as to whether the marriage would actually go ahead.

So that’s that, then: no wedding after all, since in Italy couples have to publish the banns 30 days in advance. Well no, Signor Salvioni said: the 30-day rule does not apply to foreigners.

Antonella Chiesa, speaking for the Villa d’Este, said: “We don’t have any bookings under their or their agents’ names.”

But she added teasingly: “Maybe that’s because it will be an intimate celebration . . . in any case we’re ready to stage a wedding ceremony.”

Signora Saladini confirmed that the Cernobbio council had recently converted a small fishing boat named the Lucia for wedding couples to use.

Observers noted that the boat was far too small to accommodate film stars and their entourages, particularly a seven-months pregnant film star bride.

“Angelina is too tired, wedding postponed”, ran the headline in Il Giornale, the Milan newspaper. The actress, it said, was on the Cote d’Azur and “staying in her room”. Mr Clooney also denied the wedding rumours.

Ms Jolie has two adopted children, Maddox and Zahara, and Mr Pitt has signed papers to be their adoptive father.

Although the shutters were closed at the Clooney villa and a caretaker said that he knew nothing about a wedding, the paparazzi — suspecting a diversionary tactic — cruised up and down the lake.

The one clear fact in a swirl of rumour and counter rumour is that the hoteliers and restaurateurs of Lake Como are doing a roaring trade and profiting from the free publicity.