A spotter’s guide to the big day
Inside preparations for the big day
Walking down Windsor High Street is an unnerving business at the moment. You get the distinct feeling of being watched. There is barely an inch of window that isn’t taken up by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, whose faces adorn yards of bunting, hundreds of commemorative tea towels, and a startling number of life-size cutouts in every shop, pub, café and estate agent in the town centre.
There is just a week to go until the wedding of the year, and in this small English town, which will play host to 100,000 well-wishers from all over the world next Saturday, preparations are well under way.
Windsor was made for this sort of fanfare. It has been holding royal weddings for centuries (incidentally, the last royal Henry to marry at the castle was King Henry I in 1121 to his second wife, Adeliza of Louvain) and the people who live and work here are quite accustomed to the droves of tourists who spill out of the train from London Paddington at Windsor & Eton Central every day and – selfie sticks at the ready – make the short dash uphill to the castle grounds.
But, next weekend, the thousands expected to make their way to the Berkshire town to try to catch a glimpse of Meghan and Harry drive past in their Ascot Landau carriage will be ushered through full body scanners before they can take their place in the queue for a position along the procession route.
After the ceremony in St George’s Chapel, the newly married couple will do a loop through the town, so that the waiting crowds can see them – if only for a moment. Thames
Valley Police are enforcing a ban on camping at the side of the route, with particularly keen royal fans forced to either sleep in the open air or on fold-up chairs if they want to get an early spot.
The bidding began for a coveted vantage point in the upstairs windows of local shops and cafés months ago. “We’ve got the prime spot,” says Dina Gandecha in the Glorious Britain souvenir shop, where the windows are filled with commemorative mugs and tins of shortbread. “TV companies have been trying to get us to let them film from our top windows, but we’re not letting anyone use it.”
A friendly competition has struck up between the establishments lining the circuit (where bunting has been strung up this week in preparation) to see who can put on the best display. “Everyone is making an extra effort,” says Dina, who next week is renting three of her bedrooms out to French journalists and a royal superfan from California.
In the Two Brewers Pub, the pristine window boxes have been painted to read: “Congratulations to Harry & Meghan, May 19 2018”, while a life-size cut-out of the couple is peering out of an upstairs window. The prize must surely go to the 14th-century pub next to the Windsor Guildhall (where the Prince of Wales married the Duchess of Cornwall in 2005), which has gone as far as to change its name for the occasion. The Three Tuns has in the past week become “The Prince Harry”, and has a gleaming new gold sign proudly displaying its new moniker. Inside, lunchtime conversation is focused on one particular piece of gossip – how much people have managed to get out of the American TV stations.
“I know someone renting out her entire property for £40,000,” says a punter. “I heard it was £100,000!” cries another. Shelby Wilden, who works behind the bar sighs: “It’s going to be mayhem. We’re sleeping here overnight the night before – we won’t be able to get into town to open up otherwise. And we’re staying open until three in the morning.”
In the Kings and Queens gift shop round the corner, 74-year-old Derek Prime, who has worked there since 1981, says there has been a bunfight to book hotel rooms in the city centre ever since the couple’s engagement was announced last year, when prices soared to over £600 a night within hours of the news breaking. “I heard at the Harte and Garter rooms are going at £1,700 a night. The twist is you have to book seven nights,” he says.
He has sold 300 of his £13.99 Meghan and Harry mugs in the past week alone and has been relishing the chance to talk with the tourists who flock to his shop every day. “The Queen herself came by during her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2016,” he says, proudly. “She said to me: ‘I see you’ve got me in the window’. I said ‘Yes Ma’am, we’ll always have you in the window’ – though we haven’t got so much of her this week!”
It is a perfect early summer’s day, and Windsor is bustling with tourists heading to the horse show, and waiting to watch the Changing of the Guards. The Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards come marching down the High Street in their finery to “oohs” and “aahs”, accompanied by the Band and Bugles of The Rifles – a little taster of next week’s festivities.
A policeman standing guard (their presence is notably high already) does a sterling job of making small talk with an American tourist. “Go on then, who’s your favourite royal?” he asks. It’s the cue she needs to begin a long list, in order of preference (Prince Philip is top). “Is this what it’s going to be like next week?” she asks. “I should think there’ll be a few more people and a few more soldiers,” he laughs.
Accompanied by 24 members of the Household Cavalry and pulled by six Windsor Grey horses, Meghan and Harry will travel through the castle gates, up the High Street, and past the Household Cavalry barracks to what is known as The Long Walk – a 2.64-mile stretch on the south side of the castle. Windsor’s answer to The Mall, the sycamore-lined path will resemble a festival site, with food trucks, ice cream vans and thousands of well-wishers gathered to watch on big screens. This section of the route will also allow spectators to catch a glimpse of the couple in the final minutes of the procession.
Today, the immaculate lawns are peppered with security personnel, there to sweep the drains underneath The Long Walk – which remains a public footpath until next weekend – for explosives. A five-storey press centre is being constructed at the end, where commentators including Kirsty Young and Huw Edwards will observe proceedings. Meanwhile, groundsmen are building platforms for cameras along the path, carefully painting each structure dark green to blend in with its surroundings.
By the Cambridge Gate – which will mark the end of the procession – two women are discussing the likelihood of a kiss. “Thing is, there isn’t going to be a balcony this time is there? Can you see one in there? Maybe they’ll stop the carriage here and have a kiss before they go through the gates?”
We can only hope the couple oblige on the big day, and give the Windsor crowds the moment they will have waited all morning for.