Meanwhile, the bells of the Abbey will ring for hours in joyous celebration. Everything went superbly, I am so proud of the couple, the Royal Family and everyone involved in the organisation and protection of this event. In the words of Piers Morgan, the old rogue, "If you didn't feel proud to be British then, you probably never will."
We have to get used to Prince William becoming the Duke of Cambridge. I also have to remember for the next Prince of Wales wedding, which I’ll almost certainly not be alive for, to make sure I bring booze. Let this note serve as posterity to my children though.
Thank you for reading this PzU Live blog, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed watching the wedding take place. Have a great Weekend and holiday next week. Paddy
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13.34 I've taken the opportunity to have a bowl of chicken soup.
13.21 CNN do a split screen with the crowd on the Mall and the Queen. CNN, listen, nobody split screens the Queen.
13.18 Plenty of wedding dress discussion now. London looks stunning, I am rather overcome by emotion.
13.11 See them in that open top malarkey? That's our future King and Queen right there.
13.10 Wills is so nervous he sits on the wrong side of the carriage, before swiftly sitting in the front facing seat. The coachmen mount the rear step, away we go laddies.
13.09 Good - they're braving the weather and going in the open topped carriage. Another chance to show off our Great British carriage industry.
13.08 Here they...here they... here they come...! let 'em have it,Great British public! Mr and Mrs Wales emerge into the sunlight
13.01 You've got to love the British sense of humour. Two recent (last couple of minutes) facebook statuses, "
12.57 Another hymn so plenty of time to put the chicken skin in the bin and clean the kitchen before The Hostage Taker gets back.
12.52 "If that doesn't make you proud to be British, then nothing will." True, true, Piers, but you're still a wally! Bless you.
12.51 Incapable of talking/typing as we're about to get the National Anthem Mega10000 version.
12.49 Jerusalem, you can't really not feel moved by it.
12.47 Here we go. Stand up and stand proud. Jerusalem by William Blake. Extraordinary moment.
12.45 I was beginning to wonder whether beards were obligatory for clergy, but luckily a beardless religious figure has finally spoken.
12.40 More singing and crowd shots, so plenty of time for me to shred my chicken meat and prepare the noodles. Whilst the royals break into the Champers, I'll be tucking into a bowl of chicken zupa.
12.37 Bit of a dig during the religious bit by the Bishop of London at David Cameron: Government can't engineer happiness. See here for relevance.
12.24 James Middleton now does a reading. I also had the honour of speaking at my (younger) brother's wedding service in March this year. Much as speaking can be stressful, it's also a great way on keeping a stiff upper lip during an emotional moment. He looks like his lip is so stiff it's been starched nightly for months.
12.21 I definitely need a gin and tonic, but not as much as Catherine and Wills. Catherine looked stunning, Wills looked stunned (That's a line from my best man speech for my older brother) and blurted his words out like it was the latest co-ordinates for an air sea rescue mission. Still, it was touching and even the Archbishop of Canterbury struck just the right tone with a sombre intoning of the vows and prayer. More of this please, Great Britain!
12.05 This couldn't be any more fairy tale perfect (so far!) So blogging is suspended for the wedding vows as I sit as close as possible to the TV like a little boy avidly watching cartoons.
12.00 There's little doubt about it. She looks stunning. Even from my uneducated vantage point.
11.57 Cor blimey, guvnor, Catherine looks amazing. The weather is holding and Vera Wang, CNN fashion advisor, approves of the dress. What a relief! The crowd are going absolutely bonkers.
11.48 Ere we go, soon-to-be-Prince Catherine is emerging. The 10.51 Train from Goring to Westminster has just departed. It looks like it could easily rival Diana's.
11.46 The Queen passes the Red Lion pub - a Westminster icon - and from which I have been banned three times. I shall not reveal why, I will leave that up to the Piers Morgans of the future.
11.44 I forgot to get drink. I'm quite excited now and could really do with a beer. The crowd are going nuts as the Queen drives through Horseguard's Parade. I once talked to respected political commentator John Sergeant there as well as Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell.
11.42 The Queen and Prince Phillip leave Buckingham Palace. Piers says that she's "probably the most respected public figure in the world" Actually, hard to argue with that. Who else would you say occupies that space?
11.38 Charles and Camilla are now heading down The Mall in the same car they got ambushed in. They'll be relieved to find that this time there's no sticks being poked through the window.
11.37 A disturbing lack of scuttle bucket/tittle tattle from Piers in the last 10 minutes. However, the minor Royal Family are now arriving, so there's plenty of source material for Piersy to work on..
11.35 Westminster Abbey looks spectacular. It's been there for about a thousand years. A thousand years. Think about that. Then come to England and visit it.
11.32 Karen Middleton comes out of the car. If you're looking for analysis of her dress and hat, then you've come to the wrong place. She does look great though.
11.28 CNN has its last commercial break, thank God, I couldn't take another advert for a Malaysian Business Park. CNN really is the channel for "bored business men in hotels." CNN say the dress it's not Catherine Walker from McQueen, whereas Radio 5 says she definitely is. The plotki thickens!
11.22 Harry and Wills are chatting to the close family guests. They are being followed by a wedding planner who looks, well, stressed. A huge amount of work will have gone into this and a lot of people will deserve a massive drink at the end of the day.
11.21 Wills and Harry pass the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Wills looks, well, terrified.
Feel free to comment in the comments section - there's no registration or securtity procedures, so it ony takes a second.
11.18 This couldn't be any more picture postcard if it tried. Wills and Harry enter the Abbey. If you thought you were nervous for a wedding, then imagine being on TV, in front of 3000 people, being watched by hundreds of millions more. I'm actually so excited I can barely type.
11.15 Still confused as to why Cat Deeley is on CNN talking about the royal wedding. But I suppose if you're going to invite Piers Morgan on... The CNN anchor asks if Wills and Harry are, "wearing costumes." No my dear friend! Police Officers on Whitehall can't resist turning round and looking at the two Princes.
11.12 Here comes Wills and Harry. The crows are going bonkers. Wills looks superb.
11.10 - Friend's facebook status, "
11.09 I love the idea of having trees in the Abbey which will be planted later on at Clarence House. Very nice idea. The crowd are chanting for Wills. Things are getting exciting!
11.01 David Cameron's managed to fit into his morning suit. Good - No 10 made a right royal fluff up over that one. They should be more relaxed about DC being seen as posh. It's too late, the perceptions there, listen to his voice. Who sounds like that in the streets of England? The worst outcome for him could be if he's seen to look vacillating. Still, DC gets a big cheer when he arrives. Safe to say the crowd outside Westminster Abbey are not Labour types.
10.58 The guests continue to file in and take their seats as they discuss the potential look of Kate's dress. Time for me to start chopping vegetables for the zupy methinks.
10.54 This is a greeting to my younger brother's new family in the United States who are all watching the wedding (it's around 03.00) and drinking tea. Now that is dedication.
10.51 CNN always carries lots of adverts from national tourism and investment organisations. A Chinese one pops up on a CNN advert break. The UK is getting a 2 hour advert, free of charge, hitting "two billion" consumers. Any republicans want to say our Monarchy isn't good value at the minute?
10.50 Can I admit something? I felt a bit emotional when Piersy said Diana would have loved to be there for the wedding. Whatever you thought of her when she was alive, her death was a tragedy that has all the more poignancy as we return to the scene of her funeral for her first son's wedding.
10.47 Elton and his partner David Furnish enter the Abbey. I can exclusively reveal that David Furnish's morning suit looks identical to my brother's forthcoming wedding attire. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark!
10.45 - Friend's facebook "
10.43 - Ben Fogle (a really interesting guy) taking his seat. The "Motor Coaches" are arriving to pick up the royals to go back to Buck Palace for the post wedding knees up. Definitely don't call them buses.
10.40 - Piers knows where all the bodies are buried alright, plenty of Diana analysis. Dignitaries are driving from Buck Palac down Whitehall to arrive at the embassy. The Speaker of the Houses of Parliament, John Bercow, is filing in with his wife, Sally. I once sat in a Starbucks with John and his beautiful three kids. In addition my friend used to go out with his researcher - apparently he was in the habit of randomly shouting "toast!" every once in a while.
10.37 - a friend's facebook update: "
10.35 Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, enters the Abbey with his wife. Piers helpfully fills us in on how "naughty a boy he is" I'm starting to see why CNN spent all this week boasting about Piers's "unique insight into Britain"
10.28 - Back to CNN and the (American) presenter just pronounced Edinburgh as "Edinboro" - cue hoots of laughter from Piers Morgan and Cat Deeley! According to Piers Morgan Catherine has been having nightmares about being at the alter naked. Now that sounds like a dream to me! Lots of bizarre fascinators and hats, I think I see BBC presenter Sophie Rayworth and Tara Palmer Tomkinson filing in - Piers helpfully fills us in on her cocaine habit.
10.25 Break in the CNN coverage, so I can fill you in on Lunch. I found a new open air market near Galeria Mokotow today and managed to get two big chicken legs and a bullion/stock mix of carrots, leek, swede and parsnips, two onions for 13zl or £2.95 - bargain!
10.23 And so we begin here over at Pozdrowienia z Ursynowa. Sadly, I am watching CNN as it's the only English-language channel in town. The Royal Navy Band are marching up whitehall and Beckham is struggling to find his seat in the Abbey. More shortly..
Feeling strangely close to the Royal Family. My friend and I have concluded since I have English brother(s)-in-law, and she is from New England, we must be pratically related to them.
ReplyDeleteYes i think that's quite likely. If you give me 45 quid I will find a certificate proving it!
ReplyDeleteEverything is so beautiful and CLEAN. I have never wanted to travel more. (Note to self: get a side job, save pennies.)
ReplyDeleteLondon is pretty generally but this is a wonderful part of it. I have worked in 4 different locations in this area - Department for Health, the Cabinet Office, Houses of Parliament and Business Department.
ReplyDeleteWell done Paddy. Terrie and I must go there. I must see Westminster. And Pippa.
ReplyDeleteTruly magical...and to think that last week I thought maybe I would just watch the clips after the fact. This was certainly NOT to be missed. And by "This", I mean the family comments/chat, live blogging, AND the wedding.
ReplyDeleteHilarious post - well done for the perseverence! I managed to watch most of it in the office kitchen surrounded by Polish colleagues firing questions about the height of Westminster Abbey and why there were trees growing inside. But I have to agree - it's not often you have an occasion to feel proud to be British, but this was one of them. Personally I loved the Aston Volante - a nice touch.
ReplyDelete