In the picturesque and peaceful county of Berkshire lies the village of Bucklebury, which until recently was just one of thousands of names on the map of the United Kingdom. But today Bucklebury is known to the world as the village, which gave Britain its future queen and Prince William his future wife.
Bucklebury, a 45-minute drive from London, is a quiet and clean village with grazing sheep, thatched roofs, blooming flowers, ancient oak trees, green lanes and expensive cars.
Despite the private lane leading to the Middletons' house, dozens of photographers and international TV crews are camped outside waiting for Kate or some of their family to appear. The house itself is hidden beneath thick foliage and a Metropolitan police car is sometimes seen guarding the lane.
To protect the privacy of local residents, a London bus company was forced to cancel its journeys around the village, which were organized in February and were highly popular with the press.
Ahead of the big day, the local Bladebone Inn pub and Bladebone butchery are decorated with Union Jack flags. The pub is packed with tourists from all parts of the United Kingdom, who arrive in Bucklebury by car or even by bicycle to catch a glimpse of the future queen or at least at her house.
"Have you seen the bride's house?" they asked noticing people with TV and video cameras.
One of these tourists is Kay Sparkes, an elderly lady from Glasgow, Scotland, who is travelling to Berkshire to wintess the third royal wedding of this level in her life. Mrs Sparkes complains that no one plans to widely celebrate the event in Glasgow, where the royal family is not favored and proudly tells the story of her taking part in cooking a wedding cake for Princess Elizabeth, the future queen, back in 1947.
"This [the cake] was made in 1947 not long after the war when everything was very very short. How my father managed to get the ingredients, I don't know," she said adding that the cake weighed around 8 kilos and contained real eggs, which were very difficult to get hold of after the war.
Mrs Sparks said she wants to feel the atmosphere of the royal wedding and called Kate Middleton "a very nice girl."
"She is a very suitable young lady for him," she said. "Apparently she steadies him and she encouraged him through university and I think she is going to be a very strong supporter towards him."
Several residents of Bucklebury are among the 1,900 lucky ones who have been invited to the wedding service at the Westminster Abbey.
Among them are a postman, landlord, a corner shop manager and a butcher who has known the Middleton family for many years.
Butcher Martin Fidler called the event "the wedding of the century."
"We feel absolutely jubilant about the wedding. This is so fantastic, we are so excited," he said.
But not all Bucklebury residents seemed to share Fidler's excitement. An elderly gentleman who did not give his name, said: "I do not care for it at all. The wedding does not affect me."
However, he said that five street parties with barbeques will be held in Bucklebury neighborhood on April 29 to celebrate the success of Kate Middleton and her family of self-made millionaires who made their money by launching their online party gift business.
Bucklebury (U.K.), April 28 (RIA Novosti, Irina Ryapolova)
