Twice in a Lifetime Experience

On Saturday, May 19, 2018, the marriage of His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales and Ms. Meghan Markletook place in Windsor, England. Celebrated around the world, this majestic event portrayed the personality and pageantry of England, and I was there! Okay, I did not receive an invitation to the royal wedding, but I was in Windsor to experience the festivities.



For decades, I have been a royal fan. So, in 1983, after waiting for hours on Parliament Hill, I presented flowers to Princess Diana; and then because of some charitable work I did, I was selected to present flowers to her again in 1991 when she visited Ottawa.





With such treasured memories of those encounters, I made sure to be in London for the marriage of her first son His Royal Highness Prince William to Kate Middleton in 2011. I was also thrilled to meet the royal couple later that year in Charlottetown, PEI.







As soon as the engagement of Diana’s second son was announced in November 2017, I started planning my trip to Windsor, England. I was especially excited about this news because I had met Markle in Ottawa in September 2016, where I was one of two event organizers chosen to assist at the Counsellor’s Dinner for the One Young World event.

On Tuesday, May 15, after months of preparation, I arrived in London, direct from Burgundy, France where I had spent a few days wine tasting with friends. England was sunny and warm, in stark contrast to the cold, rainy weather I had just experienced in France. I had been warned that security in Windsor was going to very tight. For overnight stays, pup tents were forbidden. So, the next day, I purchased a sleeping bag and a folding chair.



Although Prince William got married in Westminster Abbey in London, a city with more than 8 million people, Prince Harry’s wedding was to take place in Windsor, a much smaller town on the River Thames, with a population of only 30,000.



On Thursday, May 17, I boarded the train from London to Windsor, knowing that the large influx of royal watchers was going to pose some challenges at my final destination.



I had been able to reserve a guestroom behind a pub for the night of May 17, but no accommodation of any kind was available for May 18, the eve of the wedding. At the pub, I had my photo taken with a life-size cut-out of Prince Harry and Meghan. I thought, “This is probably as close as I am going to get to the royal couple!”

To scout the area, I headed on foot to Windsor Castle, about 20 blocks away. Everyone I met along the way was in a jolly mood. It was evident that the city was preparing for the expected descent of 100,000 visitors. I continued up the Long Walk, the tree-lined avenue leading to Windsor Castle. The lawns were perfectly groomed and crowd fencing had been installed; there were various food trucks set up, along with many portable lavatories. I thought that a position along the Long Walk might be a good place for the big day.



Instead, I ended up going around the side of the castle, near the visitor entrance. There I found seven women sitting behind some crowd fencing decorated with various national flags—but no maple leaf was yet in sight.



One of the women asked where I was from. I always carry several Canadian flags with me when I travel and this time I had the same ones that I had taken to London seven years ago for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. When I pulled one out, I was invited to become the camp’s Canadian representative.



My new companions were amazing women of different ages and backgrounds, and all with terrific stories to share. One had flown for over 23 hours from Melbourne, Australia. Several others from Switzerland, the USA and England had already been camped out since Tuesday, some 48 hours before I met them. I was happy to have found my base for the next two days.

Once I had put down my sleeping bag, folding chair and small bag containing clothes and a fascinator, I went for a walk around Windsor to get some lunch. I admired the flowers and bunting that was hung all over to commemorate the occasion.

International media were stationed in every direction; apparently there were some 20,000! Seeing a Canadian flag that I was carrying, several reporters asked to interview me. They all wanted to know why I had come to Windsor all the way from Canada. I was prepared for this question and shared my story and photos of encounters with Princess Dianna, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and of course, Meghan Markle. I felt very welcome. So many people said they adored Canada and Canadians.

In fact, the international women’s camp attracted a lot of media attention. We were interviewed by journalists from all over the world. They liked our stories and especially our random singing of “Chapel of Love”…Going to the chapel, and we’re gonna get married.

At about 100 feet from the visitor’s entrance to Windsor Castle, our camp was the closest possible public location to where Prince Harry and Markle’s carriage would exit following the wedding. Furthermore, our camp was just in front of a building rented by ABC and CBS as their broadcasting headquarters, with numerous cameramen stationed on the roof. The networks tried to get us to move, but we held our ground. We even made friends with the building’s security guard, who allowed us to use the bathroom inside. We made sure he was supplied with ample coffee, chocolate, etc.

As night fell, we each had our designated sleeping area on the sidewalk. I dozed sitting up in my chair, while trying to keep an eye on everyone’s belongings. Throughout the night, I chatted with the patrolling police men and women, as well as the street cleaners. Note that I am not a camper, so this is as close as I will ever get to a real basecamp!

On Friday, May 18, as previously arranged, I phoned Gord St. Denis, at Majic100, the FM radio station in Ottawa, to report live from Windsor. I shared the mounting excitement and described the street getting busier as people arrived to claim their viewing spots. But none were closer to the castle than us!

I was so glad that I had arrived early and had a guaranteed front row seat. A local woman spotted my Canadian flag hanging on the fence and stopped to talk. She told me that she attends meetings in Montreal and that she loves Canada. She invited me to her home for dinner. I thanked her for the offer but said I could not leave my new international friends. She returned in a few hours with a bag of snacks, drinks and a blanket for me. She was one of the many generous people that I met in Windsor.

Finally, Saturday May 19, the day of the much-anticipated affair had arrived. We were all awake by 6 am. The sun was shining, and we knew it was going to be a glorious day! The crowds grew thicker with avid fans, as the number of police and media multiplied. The street was bustling as official wedding guests representing various charities arrived and lined up in front of us to enter the castle. They were followed by the privileged members of the media who were being allowed in.

We were able to hear the music coming from St. George’s Chapel where the wedding would soon begin. I was thrilled to be part of this magical event about to be broadcast around the globe. The tired but very passionate crowd started to sing “God Save the Queen”. How can I describe the emotions I felt after spending 48 hours mostly awake and confined to one small spot on the sidewalk? In a few words, my second royal wedding experience was brilliant and emotional.

Loudspeakers had been set up on the grounds, and when we heard the “I do’s” from the royal couple, the cheers around us were deafening. We knew that the ceremony and our enthusiasm were being heard worldwide!

Finally, after so many hours of standing and being pushed up against the crowd barrier, we saw the horse-drawn carriage with the newly-married Duke and Duchess of Sussex, coming out of the gate. They were right in front of us! I was one of the first royal fans to ever hail the new couple. All the international women cheered and waved, while snapping photo after photo, hoping to get that one great shot. Once the carriage had past, we turned to each other with tears in our eyes. I had been only about seven feet from the carriage and the Royals—a sight that I will never forget!

Another thing that I will always remember is meeting, talking, laughing and sharing stories with so many interesting people of all ages and nationalities who had traveled far and wide to be in Windsor on Saturday, May 19, 2018.

Then it was all over, except for the challenge of packing up our international camp and trying to merge into the streets with the other 100,000 viewers. I was in search of somewhere to sit and have lunch. But every restaurant was either full or had run out of food. Exhausted, I started to walk back to my hotel to retrieve my suitcase from storage.

The sun was hot, and the lack of sleep was catching up with me. I developed a migraine headache and started to feel sick. Three teenagers noticed my condition and offered to carry my bags. They insisted that I drink their fresh bottle of water. They walked me to a pub where I could get some food. I offered to give them some money, but they refused. They said that it was nice to meet a Canadian who had come so far to visit their hometown. They were extremely caring.

It took many hours to get a taxi from my pub hotel to the next town, where I caught a train back to London. Once I had checked into my hotel, enjoyed a hot shower and ate a good meal, I watched the highlights of the royal wedding on TV. To this day, I have never watched the complete wedding, but I guess I don’t really need to, since I was actually there.