The ‘cake lady’ and Lesotho charity worker given pride of place
IT IS not every royal wedding that a “cake lady” arrives at the chapel laden with hundreds of custard slices, lemon drizzle and sticky toffee slices.
But Kath Ryan, 57, has a special dispensation from the superintendent at Windsor Castle, not to mention a personal invitation from the groom.
She is a familiar face to Prince Harry and if he catches her eye as he arrives at St George’s Chapel, she will have no qualms about offering him a quick snack before he takes his vows.
The cake lady, as she is fondly known to injured troops up and down the country, will be among a crowd of 200 charity representatives gathered in the horseshoe cloister, at the bottom of the west steps leading to the main door of the church, from which the bride and groom will emerge as man and wife.
They will be joined outside the chapel by 1,200 members of the public, 1,140 palace staff and 200 local schoolchildren. But the so-called “golden ticket holders”, invited to feel part of the celebrations, will be the only people in the whole country unable to watch the ceremony.
The guests, which include Amelia Thompson, a schoolgirl caught up in the Manchester terror attack, will see the Prince and Meghan Markle arrive but will then be reduced to listening to proceedings via a PA system.
Not that they mind. Ms Ryan was “excited beyond belief” when invited to play a part in the wedding day and has baked 400 cakes for “her boys” – the Invictus invitees – and any other guests who might be feeling peckish.
She has spent her entire savings baking cakes for injured servicemen and women, after taking some to cheer up her sister, who was being treated in Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, in 2009. Her sister shared the treats with injured soldiers at the smoking shelter and they put in a request for more. Her charity, Cakes 4 Casualties, was born.
Among the others gathered will be Ntoli Moletsane, whose heart will swell with pride. For in her native Lesotho, the tiny mountain kingdom within South Africa, the Prince is considered family.
Ms Moletsane, 37, is one of four members of staff from Sentebale invited to fly to the UK for the big day.
Sentebale, which translates as “forget me not”, is a charity founded by Prince Harry with Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso in 2006 “as a memorial to the charity work of our own mothers”.
“It’s taken a bit of work to get to this point, here today,” Ms Moletsane told The Daily Telegraph. “We had to fly to South Africa and stay there in order to apply for visas and then wait a few days to find out if we were successful.
“But we made it and we’re here. I will be super excited if I get to speak to him. I have met Prince Harry a couple of times and he’s such a good person, he’s so kind.
“Everyone in Lesotho cannot wait to meet Meghan,” she added. “They can see how much Harry loves her and how happy she makes him. He is considered family and therefore, so is she.”