A wedding day is always special, but for British couples getting married on Saturday at the Windsor Guildhall, their nuptials had an added sprinkling of second-hand royal glamour.
Three weddings took place after Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles tied the knot inside the 17th-century civic building, and the ceremonies inherited the royal decor — and, in one case, the royal crowds.
Grace Beesley, whose wedding to husband-to-be Fraser Moores was scheduled directly after Charles and Camilla’s 12.30pm event, had the curious experience of arriving to the cheers of massed crowds still lining the streets of Windsor.
Waving regally and laughing with her bridesmaids, the 33-year-old posed on the same steps where, just earlier, the royal couple had appeared in public as husband and wife for the first time.
Emerging after the ceremony, the new Mr and Mrs Moores looked bemused as they were surrounded by press cameras, but managed a smile and also to autograph a proffered souvenir kitchen towel commemorating the royal event.
Charles and Camilla’s wedding was put off at the last minute for 24 hours so the prince could attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II, and officials said Charles’s household had been eager not to disrupt others’ long-laid wedding plans.
“Clarence House has been determined that the other weddings should not be disrupted at all,” said Lloyd White, chairperson of ceremonial events for the local council, referring to the prince’s London office.
The impressive cream, white and pastel flowers that had decorated the Guildhall for the royal wedding were left in place, he added.
“They are very large arrangements and Clarence House requested that they be left inside for the other couples.” — AFP