Shropshire Star

Shirley joining celebrations at her seventh royal wedding

Shropshire Star reporter Shirley Tart will attend her seventh royal wedding in Windsor tomorrow.

Published
Shirley Tart, inset, will be attending her seventh royal wedding

She will be at Windsor Castle to watch Prince harry marry Meghan Markle.

It is the latest landmark occasion in the remarkable career of Shirley, who has been with the Shropshire Star since its inception more than 50 years ago.

She said: “The first Royal Wedding I covered was in 1973 when Princess Anne married Captain Mark Phillips in Westminster Abbey. I remember then thinking how important it was to also enjoy it – I may never get such an opportunity again.

“This weekend’s marriage of Harry and Meghan will be the seventh I’ll have attended, written about and enjoyed.

“It has been such a privilege and pleasure to help tell these historic stories.”

So the scene is set, writes Shirley, not just for a wedding but maybe, just maybe for a rejuvenated, or at least different, Royal Family.

Though don’t hold your breath on this one.

Because over these recent years in particular, there have been many entrants into the life and work of our premier family from many different backgrounds, who were relatively unknown to the wider public and who prompted the comment ‘well she or he will change the face of the royals.’

Whether it did or didn’t, in fact our Royal Family has been amazingly resilient at being modern, according to the rituals of the day, yet actually changing very little.

Make no mistake, the protocols of royalty remain.

However, from the matriarch down, there have been subtle and not so subtle changes from Her Majesty’s constant, happy smiles and more relaxed approach to the present generation.

And without a doubt, this weekend’s groom and his elder brother have been, and remain, massively instrumental in helping our royals connect perhaps better than ever before with the great British public.

And to be fair, it is working. Much of that was beginning to shine through long before the Meghan factor. But since Prince Harry and his bride-to-be officially announced their togetherness, this fascinating younger, energetic team simply underlines the future.

INTERACTIVE: All you need to know about the royal wedding

Among my royal and allied books collected over many years is one called The Monarchy and its Future. It was published in 1969, nearly 50 years ago, edited and compiled by Jeremy Murray-Brown, and has this to say: “Monarchy is Britain’s oldest political institution, older than Parliament, older even than our Law Courts.

"British royalty can claim the oldest dynastic heritage in Europe. Like the Church, it has been buffeted throughout the ages but has survived into the present age. What will be its future? Will the traditions and loyalties of the past survive in a world of technology and mass communications?”

Does that all sound a bit familiar?

The new generation of young royals, now with their own babies and their own ways of meeting and greeting, have helped raise the profile and commit themselves to offering practical help to so many as well as lending their names to hundreds of worthy causes.

It is this sort of breakaway help which is proving such a success and why the public particularly love Prince Harry, are thrilled that he has at last found a special love and is so patently happy.

Big day schedule:

  • 12.00: Wedding service begins at St George's Chapel. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are married by the Dean of Windsor and Archbishop of Canterbury.

  • 13.00: Couple embark on carriage procession through town before returning to Windsor Castle.

  • Afternoon: Queen hosts reception at St George's Hall for couple and 800 guests.

  • Evening: Prince of Wales hosts evening reception for 200 close friends and family at royal residence of Frogmore House.

And this is The Firm which Meghan Markle joins officially this weekend.

The waxwork is done, the guests are on the way, no doubt the £100,000 (really?) dress is ready in its travel cover, the glamorous relatives and friends have been arriving all week. The only sad note is the uncertainty over Meghan’s dad, who should have been given his daughter away on Saturday but remains in the US because of his heart problems.

Meghan meanwhile, has made herself very comfortable with her man and has been practising meeting people, learning about Britain, our traditions and starting to learn how to fit into the family. So here we are, set for a royal wedding in a small town which is the Queen’s favourite and where Harry’s father married his present wife. It promises to be joyful and a union which far from putting the Royal Family at risk, looks set to enhance it as Harry marries Meghan in a very special wedding indeed. The Windsor whirl is indeed in action.

And everybody wants to be part of it, even if that means joining the crowds at any spot they can squeeze in between the fans who have already been waiting for hours, in some cases for days.

As well as with memories, they of course will be able to go home at the end of the day with special souvenir mugs, teacloths, T-shirts and myriad collections.

Those of us in Windsor when the Prince of Wales married Camilla, remember that the wedding was delayed by a day because the Pope had died and Charles was committed to be at his funeral.

I have often wondered since how many printed ‘souvenirs’ of the day had been snapped up but which by then carried the wrong wedding date!

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