Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Bunting breaks out all across Britain as Royal Wedding parties begin

Union Flags flew proudly and red, white and blue bunting fluttered in the breeze as excited guests wished Prince William and bride Kate well for their big day.

The country's biggest street party took place in Gravesend, Kent, where more than 600 schoolchildren tucked into a vast open-air feast.

Young revellers donned facepaint, flew kites and waved British flags to the strain of a brass band.

Leigh Hovey, head teacher of Wrotham Road Primary School, said: "I think it's important that the children mark an important event in history.

"To see our future King marry is a significant event and I want the children to be able to say in 20, 30 or 40 years what they were doing when that happened."

Thousands of Royal fans pitched tents and spread picnic blankets along The Mall in London as they claimed some of the best spots to view today's mega-event.

Champagne bottles were opened early as the famous stretch became a colourful sea of flags and bunting. Buskers and brass bands performed impromptu concerts.

WATCH the best of the action from William and Kate's big bash

The carnival-style scenes were beamed on TV to millions around the world.

Tina Owen, from Melbourne, Australia, flew 30 hours to get to the event.

She said: "It's like a mini-UN. We're from all over the world, but we've become a community already. Your city has got a really, really big soul."

Prime Minister David Cameron visited The Mall to meet Royal well-wishers - and return to the spot where he camped out for Prince Charles' 1981 wedding aged just 14. Mr Cameron admitted he was feeling "quite excited" about the ceremony. The Duchess of Cornwall was also spotted beaming and waving to fans.

Elsewhere, 1,700 students at Brighton College in Brighton, East Sussex, joined a Royal party in the grounds - using an amazing two miles of Union Flag bunting.

Les Pocklington, of Newbury, Berks, celebrated by making a hand-made miniature carriage from concrete and metal - and adorned it with hundreds of seashells.

Meanwhile more than 200 pupils at St Pius X Primary School in Middlesbrough lunched in the sunshine wearing Union Flag hats and proudly waving flags.

Another school to start celebrating early was Cottingley Primary in Leeds, West Yorks, where pupils held a mock wedding - with the Queen's approval.

Classmates Courtney Mitchell and Joseph Dolan, both 11, played Wills and Kate, with teachers and fellow pupils waving union flags in the school hall.

Vicar Rev Jude Smith presided over the "wedding" before the 300 kids tucked into a banquet of fizzy drinks and crisps in a marquee erected in the playground. Bursar Julie Whitehead said: "It was a glorious sunny day and the children really got into the Royal Wedding spirit."

The Queen gave her support to the project after head Dianne Elson wrote to Buckingham Palace explaining the plans.

Royal fans from up and down the country were pitching their tents in the capital yesterday at a special campsite.

Camp Royale on Clapham Common, South West London, will also be the setting for free parties today and Saturday for up to 5,000 people. A big screen will show the wedding, and food and drink will be on offer, including a "Windsor Knot" real ale brewed for the wedding.

Alexandra and Philip Broadhead, both 27, travelled there from Bournemouth, Dorset, with 23-month-old son Felix. Philip said: "It's a bit of fun and an opportunity to be where everything's happening."

Today well-wishers will be going street party-mad AGAIN - with more than 5,500 outdoor bashes planned around Britain.

ARE you taking a camera to the Royal Wedding? Send us your favourite photos to weddingpictures@the-sun.co.uk

g.oshea@the-sun.co.uk

LEAVE tributes for Wills and Kate on a Sun charity hotline. Comments go in a commemorative book for them. Call 0901 292 5111 from the UK. Or text ROYAL to 85088.

Calls cost ?1.02 from BT landlines. Texts cost ?1 plus standard message rate. Lines close at midnight. News International profits from the hotline go to William and Kate's charitable gift fund.

DOWNING Street will be decked with bunting today for an outdoor wedding party.

Around 90 guests from charities will join schoolkids for ice cream and other treats. Downing Street cat Larry got in the spirit yesterday with a Union Jack bow tie.

NINE-year-old classmates Catherine Middleton, William Pearce and Harry Houghton staged a wedding in Northants as "cops" kept Lancs safe.


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