A RIGHT ROYAL EXTRAVAGANZA
IT has sparked a boom in American tourists visiting the UK, kickstarted a $ 1 billion spending spree and spawned a new generation of royal fans.
The May 19 wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be the mostwatched marriage ceremony in history, with more than 500 million global viewers expected to tune in on newspaper websites, TV and social media.
Pubs in the UK have been granted a licence to open late, street parties are being organised and more than 100,000 royal fans will cram the streets of Windsor, hoping for a glimpse of the glamour couple and their guests.
Royal biographer Katie Nicholl tells Insight the British public have embraced Harry and Meghan as a couple.
“It’s going to be a very popular wedding, the public have got behind Prince Harry in a way that he perhaps secretly always hoped, but never took for granted,” she says. “They’re really modelling this on a people’s wedding, they clearly want the public to be a part of it. They’ve been quite surprised by the warmth the public has shown them as a couple and I think Harry and Meghan have been very touched by that and they wanted to give something back to the people.
“It’s going to be a real day of national celebration. Windsor’s going to be absolutely packed.”
Rachel Meghan Markle, 36, and Prince Henry of Wales, 33, ( pictured) will exchange their vows at midday on Saturday, May 19 – that’s 9pm Australian time.
Markle is a US actor whose breakthrough role was a sexy paralegal in the TV series Suits.
She has dazzled the UK since her relationship with Prince Harry was confirmed last year.
Prince Harry has a special place in the hearts of the UK public, who sympathised with him when he lost his mother Princess Diana when he was just 12. They forgave him when he grew into an angry young man, lashing out at photographers as he staggered drunk out of nightclubs, was photographed naked in Las Vegas playing strip billiards, and dressed in a Nazi uniform at a costume party.
In recent years, after 10 years in the army including two tours of Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter pilot, the good- hearted Harry has grown up, worked hard for charity and particularly focused on wounded and ill military personnel.
The best- kept secret in the UK is the identity of Meghan’s wedding gown designer.
While some seriously big names have been mentioned, from the US label Oscar de la Renta to the so- hot- right- now Canadian- Turkish designer Erdem Morilioglu, the smart money is on Australian designers Ralph and Russo.
Owned by couple Tamara Ralph and Michael Russo, the couture house designed the dress Meghan wore for her official engagement photos, and they are headquartered in London.
The design will have to please both Meghan’s fashionforward ideas, and the tradition for royal brides to dress modestly.
Expect figure- hugging, plenty of lace, and not much skin on display.