Kate Middleton and Prince William’s betrothal is expected to be celebrated up and down Britain.
Party plans for the royal wedding are already well underway in Kate Middleton’s home village of Bucklebury in Berkshire, where her parents still live.
It’s set to be rousing, too, with the village church and local pubs each planning a shindig, while the parish council is hoping to hold live music and a hog roast at Bucklebury Farm Park.
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Prince William, 28, and Kate, 29, will marry at Westminster Abbey on April 29, upon when a special full peal of bells will ring out from the village church in picturesque Bucklebury.
Reverend Julian Gadsby, priest in charge of the Berkshire parishes of Bucklebury, Bradfield and Stanford Dingley, said the bells would chime for an impressive three hours.
“Very excited,” he said.
A special service will also be held the following Sunday, to include prayers for the couple’s marriage, Gadsby said.
“This is a very exciting time for this whole community and like so many people in this country we are delighted for Prince William and the Middleton family, Kate Middleton in particular, about their forthcoming wedding,” he said.
“Weddings are a wonderful occasion anyway. People are so happy, it combines communities, it enables people to be joyful – we are just thrilled.
“Marriage is such an important part of our society and we want to see marriages work and succeed and be very long and very happy.”
Local pubs won’t be going quiet, either.
The Bladebone Inn, which is nearby the Middleton family home, is hosting a special celebrations to mark the occasion.
Wynne Frankum, chairwoman of Bucklebury Parish Council, also said an event was being planned at the Bucklebury Farm Park for people from the parish.
She said it will hopefully include a hog roast, live music and entertainment.
“The pubs are doing their own things, but there is an event at the farm park that the parish is doing for the parish,” she said.
“There are a lot of people who maybe wouldn’t want to go to the pub, so we’re having this big parish event in the farm park in the afternoon.
“It’s nice to mark the event with something for everyone. Everyone is very excited.”
