WE’VE GOT THIS
WINDSOR READY FOR WEDDING INFLUX
Walking down Windsor High Street, 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 lifesize cut-outs in every shop, pub and café in the town centre.
There is just a week until the wedding of the year, and in this small English town, which will host 100,000 wellwishers 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 accustomed to the droves of tourists who spill out of the train every day and — selfie sticks at the ready — make the short dash uphill to the castle grounds.
But next weekend the thousands expected 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 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.
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. “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 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 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.” 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.
In the Kings and Queens gift shop round the corner, 74-year-old Derek Prime 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!”
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.
TV FIRMS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET US TO LET THEM FILM FROM OUR TOP WINDOWS.