Friday, May 6, 2011

World tunes in for Kate and Wills

People turned out across Britain's streets, squares, pubs and churches to hold a variety of bashes.

And because of the Royals' popularity overseas - millions of people across the globe were glued to their screens to watch the nuptials.

Royalists in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and China all flocked to celebrate the wedding.

In New Zealand, they celebrated the Kiwi godmother to Kate Middleton's father and in Hong Kong, there was Chinese-language TV commentary from a well-known wedding designer.

In India - once the jewel of the British empire - they sat transfixed in front of millions of televisions.

The Hindustan Times, one of India's largest-circulation English-language newspapers, had an entire page of glowing stories about the Royal couple.

British troops in Afghanistan gathered round televisions to catch the Royal spectacle - and a team of British scientists battled 40mph winds and freezing conditions to toast the newlyweds at the South Pole.

Even crew members at the International Space Station (ISS) sent the Royal couple a congratulatory message.

Members of the Russian-US-Italian crew wished the British Royal couple a happy life and said they will also celebrate in space.

At Tsinghua University in China nearly 200 couples tied the knot at a collective wedding ceremony that coincided with Kate and Wills' big day.

But the biggest parties were reserved for back home in the UK.

Several hundred gathered in the sun in Manchester city centre, turning an open-air event into a blaze of colour as the wedding was shown on a big screen.

Well-wishers, young and old, were decked out in red, white and blue, shouting and waving Union flags.

As the Royal couple were pronounced man and wife, a huge cheer erupted.

Gill Armstrong and her husband David, from Preston, Lancs, brought their two children, Joseph, aged 18 months, and Ruby, aged four, to the event.

Gill said: "We have come down to Manchester because there was nothing going on in Preston and we wanted to watch it on the big screen. It is too nice a day to watch indoors."

Elaine Lowe, 22, from Manchester, who came with a group of friends to watch the event in the city, said: "The rain has held off, the sun is out and we are all having a great day.

"Kate looks stunning and her wedding dress is fabulous. What's not to like about today?"

Joe Atkins, 27, also from Manchester, added: "I thought I would come and show support and the atmosphere here has been great. I wish them both well. It's a great day for the whole nation."

Scarlett Smith, 23, and Chloe Kerr, 22, both from Manchester, and Elle Davies, 22, and Lara Richards, 22, both from London, were each dressed in identical skimpy dresses emblazoned with Union flag sequins.

The four Liverpool John Moores University graduates decided to meet up at the event in Spinningfields, Manchester, for a reunion and to celebrate the Royal wedding.

Ms Smith joked: "We wanted to dress up and show our grandchildren what we were wearing on the big day."

Ms Davies said: "We got here at 8am and thought everybody would be dressed up - but we were the first! We've had a few comments but everybody has been complimentary.

"We've even had some French people taking photos of us."

Ms Richards said: "I got quite emotional when I saw Kate and William. I said 'Oh it's a love story!'.

"We don't get much of a chance to be patriotic as well, so today is a great occasion."

In Somerset, hundreds of people gathered on the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare to watch the marriage ceremony.

The pier was gutted by fire in 2008, reopening late last year.

Its owner, Kerry Michael, said: "It is buzzing here. The atmosphere is electric. The first people got here at around 6am for a champagne breakfast. By nine there were hundreds here."

In Exeter, celebrity chef Michael Caines was hosting the Exeter Festival of South West Food and Drink in the grounds of the city's castle, where 2,000 guests stopped to watch proceedings on a 25 square metre screen.

Mr Caines, who has two Michelin stars for his restaurant at Gidleigh Park in Devon, said the atmosphere was "amazing" at the event, with many wedding-themed products.

One company, Just Us Organic, produced a sausage called William's Wiener, in honour of the groom.

Mr Caines said that the wedding ceremony was not the only thing going smoothly this morning - the kitchens where the food was being prepared for the reception would be a hive of organised activity.

He said: "Timing will be everything, to get all the food to the reception hot at the same time.

"There is a lot of pressure on the chef but they will be working with military precision right now."


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