Couples to share wedding day venue with royals

Three young couples learned today that they would be sharing their wedding day with a few unexpected guests.

The world's media would be there, along with hundreds of police and royal protection officers to keep an eye on the thousands of wellwishers due to descend on the venue of their choice. There would be the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. At least the Queen was staying away.

Parking spaces will be at premium on Saturday for the friends and relatives of the three couples as it became clear that they were to share their wedding venue with Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.

The Royal Wedding is to be slotted into Saturday's schedule at the eleventh hour at Windsor's Guildhall Council Chamber.

But Fraser Moores and his bride-to-be Grace Beesley were holding firm to their 2pm wedding, which they have been planning for six months. Mr Moores, 34, a technical engineer said: "The future King will have to work around us. I don't know how many organisers Charles has put on to it, he has probably got loads. I haven't got any sympathy for him.

"At the end of the day the boss - Grace - will not like it. It's a very big occasion for us."

The couple, who live in Windsor, are spending more than £15,000 ($40,000) on their wedding day with 100 guests invited to the ceremony.

Mr Moores and his fiancee, a 33-year-old marketing executive for a software company have hired a vintage 1958 Routemaster bus to transport their guests to the reception in Lillybrook Manor, Maidenhead.

Friends and family will be coming from all over the world - including Mr Moores' native Canada.

Acknowledging that the change of plan will involve a few logistical problems. He said: "I would imagine we're going to have a good few thousand more people milling around the streets of Windsor than we expected.

"I don't imagine we'll be able to drive up to the door of the Guildhall as easily as we thought we might do."

His best advice for Charles and Camilla was that they should "just get on with it" on the Friday - regardless of the clash with the Pope's funeral. "They are not even Catholics," he said.

The second couple, Royal Signals Army Major Thomas Crapper and entrepreneur Deborah Biltcliffe, both aged 34 years and from Bath, will wed at 3pm.

Ms Biltcliffe said she and her fiance thought it was "great" that the wedding had been moved.

"To be honest, we think it's great, no problem at all, fantastic.

"It's really quite fun for us because we're inundated with phone calls from TV and press and media which of course is not what we're used to."

Ms Biltcliffe said she thought her wedding would be "quite a low key thing" compared to Charles and Camilla's, although she will be having five bridesmaids.

"I'm sure that other than the fact that Tom and I love each other and I believe Charles and Camilla love each other and we're both getting married at the Guildhall, I probably think there's not very much comparison," she said.

And she insisted the royal wedding would not change the day for her and her fiance, which will be concluded with a reception at her parents' house in Cookham, Berkshire.

"We're clearly focused on why we're there and getting married to each other and our own party so I don't think it will change our day at all, actually.

"We'll just be going to the Guildhall and concentrating on saying our vows and being happy.

"It's nice and it's exciting and everything and I'm very pleased for them that they are getting married but I don't think it will affect our day," she said.

Finally, Nadine Hopkins, 31, and Jim Hooper, 30, are due to be married at 4pm - a slot they booked a year ago.

Miss Hopkins said she was both excited and terrified about the thought of walking through Windsor with hundreds of cameras pointing at her.

"Your wedding day is a nerve-racking affair as it is, without the world's media watching you," she said.

"I'm going to have to have to walk from the Guildhall to Ye Harte and Garter Hotel, where we are having our reception, in front of all those cameras."

The couple, who live in St Albans, Herts decided to get married in Windsor simply because they liked the town.

- INDEPENDENT