It’s one big knees-up, from Kent to Cheadle

THEY were the lucky holders of the so- called Golden Ticket to Harry and Meghan’s wedding and first to glimpse the newlyweds emerge from Windsor Castle.

The Prince and his bride issued 2,640 special invitations to members of the public, palace staff and charity workers granting them special access to the big day.

And while the favoured few were celebrating the Royal Wedding at first hand, across the country thousands were staging their own celebrations, i f perhaps on a slightly less lavish scale.

Windsor’s Golden Ticket holders included 12-year-old Amelia Thompson, from Sheffield, who survived the Manchester Arena bombing. And one of the day’s most joyous moments came when she spotted David Beckham and ran to give him a hug – an embrace broadcast to millions across the world.

Amelia said: ‘He got told off for breaking the protocol. The security guards also said no, but my mum said go for it. So I went and hugged him. He said: “Have a lovely day”.’

Another schoolgirl was delighted to get a wave from four-year-old Prince George. Jorja Furze, 12, from Soham, Cambridgeshire, was born with only one leg and works with the charity Steel Bones as an ambassador. She said: ‘George saw me waving at him, then looked right at me and waved back.’ For thousands of Britons elsewhere, it was out with the bunting and on with the street parties.

Though far fewer such events were staged than for William and Kate’s 2011 wedding, the celebrations were just as enthusiastic.

Some complained local authorities had made it more difficult and expensive to hold them. Kent held 14, compared with 182 in 2011, while Hertfordshire hosted 298 celebrations in 2011 but only 51 this weekend.

Nevertheless, crowds partied across the nation, from Newcastle and Bristol to trendy Hackney in North London and Cheadle in Greater Manchester. But the undisputed leader was leafy Richmond in South-West London, where almost 100 street parties took place – more than any other area in the country.