By 10 a.m. on Friday morning, Trafalgar Square in central London was brimming with people eager to see the wedding of the century. Large speakers and screens kept the public in Trafalgar Square up to date on the minute-by-minute wedding details happening just moments from the square at Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.
I would have loved to have had a place along the road where the wedding party and Royal Family would pass by, but without camping out overnight, this was an unlikely possibility. Trafalgar Square was a great second.
British flags printed with the engagement announcement photo of William and Kate were literally everywhere — street vendors offered them for two British pounds, well-wishers waved them frantically every time another member of the Royal Family was seen on the big screen. Children sat on their parents’ shoulders to get a glimpse. Tents circling the square sold the traditional meal of fish and chips. National pride was everywhere. Despite the huge crowds, this was a great time to be in London.
When the wedding ceremony began, a hush fell over the crowd. “Kate is just so beautiful, and Will is so handsome,” a British woman exclaimed to her daughter behind me. “Oh! Look at the Queen. How lovely. Bless her.”
After the ceremony, many of us in Trafalgar Square crowd rushed down the impossibly crowded streets to try to catch a glimpse of Will and Kate’s carriage as they returned to Buckingham Palace. Roadblocks and police forces to prevent overcrowding were everywhere. But some around me were lucky enough to see a glint of the golden carriage as it passed by.
Then back to Trafalgar we flocked to watch the Royal Family’s appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony. At Will and Kate’s first kiss, and second kiss, people clapped and cheered wildly. Moments later, we all watched as the Royal Air Force flew over our heads in the square. Then just as we looked back at the screen, we saw Will, Kate and the Queen look up to see the very same planes fly over. It was magic.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Chapel Hill chapter.