Royal retreat of Windsor ready to party for Harry, Meghan
WINDSOR, England — Few towns are as quintessentially English as Windsor, the bucolic riverside locale where Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle will get married on May 19.
And few towns are as pleasing when a warm spring sun bakes off the morning mist. Even the plump white swans on the Thames River seem relieved that the winter is over.
Most of the swans belong to Queen Elizabeth II and must be counted each year by Her Majesty’s Swan Marker, a ritual that reflects the dominant role the Windsors play in the town whose name the royal family adopted as a surname a century ago.
All roads seem to lead to Windsor Castle, a magnificent fortress perched high on a hill topped by the royal standard when the queen is in residence. It is here — a favoured royal playground since William the Conqueror built the first structure in 1070 — that the royal wedding will take place.