UK ponders what to do with homeless ahead of royal wedding
LONDON — A political storm is brewing ahead of Prince Harry’s and Meghan Markle’s May 19 wedding over whether to crack down on homeless people and beggars in the well-to-do English town of Windsor.
The wedding will be held at Windsor Castle, the town’s most famous landmark and a favoured residence of Queen Elizabeth II. It is expected to draw thousands of extra visitors to a picturesque riverside town 20 miles (32 kilometres) west of London that is already popular with international tourists.
Borough council leader Simon Dudley kicked off the controversy by tweeting over the Christmas holidays about the need to clean up the town’s streets. He then wrote to police and Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May suggesting action be taken to reduce the presence of beggars and the homeless.
Dudley referred to an “epidemic” of homelessness and vagrancy in Windsor and suggested many of the people begging in the town are not really homeless. He said the situation presents a beautiful town in an unfavourable light.