Wedding mania breaks out on streets of Windsor
■ Fans camp out for best spots to see royal couple
VETERAN ‘royal watcher’ Donna Warner doesn’t mess around. The 66-year-old Connecticut woman arrived in Windsor on Tuesday afternoon and hit the ground running. She plotted out a map of the market town, and began scoping the best vantage points to catch a glimpse of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tomorrow.
After much consideration, she settled on a flagstonelined path on Castle Hill – opposite Saint George’s Chapel.
“Everyone says the Long Walk is the best place but I looked at footage of Prince Andrew and Sophie’s wedding,” she said.
“They also got married here and if Meghan and Harry follow the same route, then I’ve got the best seat in town. That’s why I’m not moving until Saturday evening,” she adds firmly.
She is among dozens of royal fans braving the elements and camping overnight to ensure her spot won’t be gazumped.
This can be a challenge; on Tuesday night, temperatures dropped. “But I came prepared,” she says. “I have two sleeping bags, an air mattress, and a space blanket with aluminium foil on one side. Faith prefers Prosecco to keep warm,” she adds nodding towards the woman beside her.
Faith Nicolson and Donna met at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011 and have been firm friends since.
Their perch, they say, is ‘the jazziest’ spot in town, brightly covered with tinsel, star-spangled bunting and homemade posters. One reads ‘Ms Markle makes Harry’s Eyes Sparkle’.
“I have different posters for Saturday,” Donna says before pointing urgently at a flag flapping in over Windsor Castle. “It’s the Royal Standard!! The Queen! The Queen is finally here!”
It’s fair to say Windsor is in the grip of total and utter royal hysteria.
Regal souvenirs are spilling out of shop windows. There are flags and scarves, life-sized cardboard cut-outs of the happy couple, giant plastic corgi masks, and inflatable tiaras. A gospel choir burst into song, tourists pose with foot guards in bearskin hats, and news anchors from France,