Village in lockdown for Pippa wedding
LONDON As Pippa Middleton walked down the aisle overnight, the big question was exactly the same as at every other wedding: what was she wearing? But there was another essential accessory – a plastic wristband. It may not be very chic, but for local villagers who wanted to get into their own homes, it was essential.
Middleton, 33, married James Matthews, 41, an investment manager, in a church on a private estate in Berkshire owned by Richard Benyon, the Conservative who was the richest MP in the last parliament, to keep rubberneckers and photographers away.
For the reception at her parents’ home in Bucklebury, the guests – more than 300 of them, although only 100 were at the church – were entertained not in a marquee but in a vast conservatory-style glass structure shipped over from Belgium. With all the extras, it is estimated to have cost up to £100,000 (NZ$188,000). The total cost of the wedding is reckoned by the Bridebook planner app to be nearly £250,000 (NZ$470,500).
At the Englefield estate, the family and police did everything in their power to make sure that no-one who did not have an invitation got anywhere near St Mark’s.
This involved a cordon being drawn up, with villagers being issued with car passes and wristbands to make sure they could carry on their lives without too much inconvenience. Normally accessible public footpaths were closed.
To avoid bad feelings, the mother of the bride, Carole, went on a charm offensive, and went to the village’s regular Wednesday coffee morning this week to apologise for the inconvenience.
Villagers were instructed by the estate, their landlord, not to talk to the media. The Times