I can say it. I can boast that I was in London on the day that Prince William married Catherine Middleton. And the event was as fun, happy, amazing, and magical as you would think a fairy tale wedding like this would be. I didn't get a personal invitation from the Queen, as I had hoped I would, but I got to see everything and had tons of fun anyway. My friends and I woke up at the crack of dawn on Friday to head to Hyde Park to watch the ceremony. We weren't even the craziest wedding-watchers, though. I know people who got up at 3 AM to get a spot in front of Buckingham Palace, and others who CAMPED OUT OVER NIGHT in front of Westminster Abbey. But you can't really blame them, because the ones you camped out had a pretty sweet spot right in front of the doors of the Abbey, so they could see everyone arrive. And you've probably even seen a picture of them! (They're the really excited Asian ones with the pillow). This image was used by BBC, CNN, and The Daily Beast. Pretty impressive.
Anyway. We went to Hyde Park. BBC set up three HUGE screens and tons of speaker towers in the center of the park for people to come and watch. It was amazing. So many people. I think I heard around 120,000 people were there watching with us. So everyone just brought blankets and picnics (and alcohol) to celebrate.
Everyone was excited and waving flags with Will and Kate's faces on them and cheering. It sounds pretty cliche, but it was exciting to be there and just be a part of that huge crowd, and of the even bigger audience of about 2.5 million people around the world who were watching the ceremony. It was also pretty cool to think about all of the people around the world who would be watching the BBC broadcast and be jealous of me because I was in London when this happened and they were not.
There were people dressed up fancy with their traditional English hats snacking on tea and crumpets.
There were girls in ugly bridesmaids dresses, men in dresses, and flags everywhere.
This group was probably my favorite, though!
So we watched all of the BBC live coverage of the event and got to see the whole thing. We watched David and Victoria Beckham arrive, we saw Elton John, we saw all of those crazy hats and outfits. As soon as Prince William came on screen driving to the Abbey with his brother, everyone began cheering. And every time Prince Harry showed up, the crowd would burst into screams and cheers...he is the cuter brother, after all...plus, he still has hair.
Even got to see the Queen (do you think Will and Harry call her "grandma"?)! The really big deal was when Kate--sorry, Catherine, now Duchess of Cambridge--appeared. Of course everyone wanted to see her dress and her hair and everything else. Poor Will, no one cares about what he wore to his wedding. But the wait to see Kate was worth it. She looked absolutely beautiful.
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| This picture doesn't do it justice, but I'm sure you've already seen her dress anyway. |
It had been cold and windy in the park all morning, and there were reports of rain on the horizon. But just as Kate stepped out of her Aston Martin or Rolls Royce or whatever it was, the sun broke through the clouds over the park. It was a pretty great moment. Then, luckily, it stayed a little bit sunny for the rest of the day.
After we watched Kate walk down the aisle and the couple say "I Will" (doesn't sound as epic or momentous as "I Do"), everyone zoned out of the ceremony for a while, because no one really cares about some special hymn composed just for them...sorry. But of course we perked up again when they all exited the Abbey and processed back to Buckingham Palace.
Of course we watched the balcony kiss and everything.
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| Best part: Can we just be done with this now?! |
But the really cool part was the RAF fly-by. They flew a WWII plane over Buckingham Palace, which is only about a mile from Hyde Park. After the planes passed the palace, they had to fly over the park and we all got great views of the plane.
After the ceremony, there was a live [cover] band and a huge dance party, which we didn't really stay for, but was fun for a while.
Over all, it was an amazing experience to be there with all of my friends and all of Britain celebrating these two beautifully happy people on their wedding day. So congratulations to the happy couple...and thanks for the day off!
