Royal wedding celebration - April 2011 

The morning of Kate & Bill’s wedding – I had a brainstorm of an idea!
 
I couldn’t face the idea of travelling into the Capital to do battle alongside the 100’s of 1000’s of global royalists, media, photographers, videographers etc who would be vying for that ideal viewing & shooting spot. Many, complete with hot flasks of milky tea, Rich Tea bikkies and beef & horseradish sarnies, had camped out over night in order to be there well in time to secure the best view of the wedding procession as poss. Others, myself included, would have arrived on foot in our police herded droves, having braved overstretched, underventilated, overcrowded public transport.
 
I just couldn’t face it but wanted to have at least one public momento of the day to add to this collection. I’m a photographer after all. Besides, how many more such Royal events was I going to see in my lifetime?
 
I’d had a vague web based recollection that across the capital (& UK wide) there were small pockets of local communities celebrating in a style befitting their locality - tea & street parties, TV's set up in gardens, mini film screens in local parks etc . However, the opportunity to see real Pearly Kings & Queens celebrating alongside peeps dressed in Dickensian costume seemed much more appealing...
 
Well I couldn’t find the exact info nor recollect the exact location! Just knew it was East and so that was where I headed. Hopped on & off a couple of trains, followed my nose and lo & behold...on a wee back street a stone’s throw from Spitalfields in Shoreditch, I came across the most amazing scene.
 
Victoriana re-enacted!
 
Amid a sea of union jacks tall tie & tailed young gents doffed top hats to saucy gartered, frill swishing, thigh slapping, ankle booted, breast popping Nell Gywn lookalikes, while smiley faced Pearly Kings & Queens struck poses. Loud raucous laughter & deafening cheers filled the street each time the newlyweds appeared on the TV screen set up in the small courtyard-come pub garden closeby...aand in the midst of all... this...stood the driver above two beautifully groomed giant shire horses attached to this, one of the few original brewery delivery cart s(drays) in existence in the Capital.
 
I set out to capture something different that day. ..primarily, an alternative pictorial memento of that historic day for myself & likeminded others ...... and if possible, an image which would trigger a magnificent trip down memory lane for some, no matter where they were from or located on that day...
 
One shot was all I wanted... et Voila!
 
London/ ©2011