Windsor official backs homeless crackdown for royal wedding

LONDON—A political storm is brewing ahead of Prince Harry’s and Meghan Markle’s May 19 wedding over whether to crack down on homeless people and beggars in the wellto-do English town of Windsor.

The wedding will be held at Windsor Castle, the town’s most famous landmark and a favored residence of Queen Elizabeth II. It is expected to draw thousands of extra visitors to the picturesque riverside town 20 miles west of London that is already popular with international tourists.

Borough council leader Simon Dudley kicked off the controversy by tweeting over the Christmas holidays about the need to clean up Windsor’s streets. He then wrote to police and Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May suggesting that action be taken to reduce the presence of beggars and the homeless.

Dudley referred to an “epidemic” of homelessness and vagrancy in Windsor and suggested many of those begging in the town are not really homeless. He said the situation presents a beautiful town in an unfavorable light.

Greg Beales, a spokesman for Shelter, said people sleeping on the streets are in desperate need of help, particularly in winter when the weather can be dangerously cold.

“Stigmatizing or punishing them is totally counter-productive,” he said.

Murphy James of the Windsor Homeless Project called Dudley’s views offensive.