A question we were often asked when we told people about our upcoming move to London was whether we’d go to the royal wedding. Over thirty years ago, I spent most of the night on a sidewalk outside Buckingham Palace before the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. In the morning, we had a prime spot to watch the cars and horse-drawn carriages coming and going from the Palace as well as the newlyweds and the rest of the royal family on the Royal Balcony after the ceremony (a few photos I took then are below). I told some people that I did it then, and I’d do it again.
However, the reality is that my sleeping-on-a-sidewalk days are over, so we’ll be watching from home with millions of others. Since it’s such a big occasion though, we decided to make a trip to Windsor in advance of the wedding to see the preparations and find out how the locals feel about the spotlight shining on their corner of the world.
We still don’t have a car, so it took ninety minutes, two buses, and two trains to get there. It was worth it. I had forgotten how magical that town is. The train station we disembarked at dates to 1897 and has been largely converted to a lovely shopping mall (which says a lot coming from me because I’m neither a shopper nor a fan of malls). The town was already decorated, as expected, with Union Jacks. Almost every shop window had either a display celebrating the wedding, wedding souvenir merchandise, or both. Most of it is creative, beautiful, and clever. Some of it, predictably, verges on tacky. The Windsor & Royal Borough Museum is running a special exhibition on weddings in Windsor, royal and otherwise.
On the practical side, there was already an abundance of security personnel and precautions in place, with additional barriers and precautions being installed. Speakers, fencing, and media grandstands were going up along the wedding parade route. The route was obviously chosen to allow the greatest number of spectators to view the newlyweds as they leave St. George’s Chapel to pass through Windsor and up a portion of the Long Walk leading to Windsor Castle. They’ll travel about two miles to arrive less than a quarter of a mile away from where they started.
The locals are excited about the wedding but not about the crowds. Workers we talked to are still figuring out how they’re going to get to and from work between road closures and the crowds using public transportation. They all acknowledged that it’s good for business even though it will be a very hectic weekend. Pubs throughout the UK will be allowed to serve two hours later than usual the nights before and after the wedding, and pubs in Windsor will surely be some of the busiest on those nights. We noticed help wanted signs posted at many of them.
We had a charming encounter with a fudge salesman who clearly has a bright future. He lured us into Fudge Kitchen with the promise of a free sample. Before we knew it, he had sold us four slabs of fudge including the available-for-a-limited-time-only Lemon & Elderflower, which was inspired by Claire Ptak’s Lemon & Elderberry wedding cake chosen by Prince Harry & Megan. We also brought home Eton Mess (for nearby Eton College), a white chocolate (for Kurt), and real chocolate (for me). Before we left, he cautioned us not to put it in the fridge, and told us not to worry, that it would last three weeks without being put in the freezer. (Clearly, he doesn’t know us. Three weeks. PFF!)
We had set out early and were on the way home by lunchtime having successfully avoided the crowds for the wedding but not those for the Royal Windsor Horse Show. Windsor is a quaint and historic town tailor-made for tourists, but it doesn’t lose any of its charm for being somewhat of a tourist trap. We can’t wait to go back in the off season.
