Windsor Castle sees final preparations for royal wedding

WINDSOR, England — Final preparations were being made Friday night inside the walls of Windsor Castle, hours ahead of Saturday’s royal wedding between Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle.

The wide open courtyard outside the chapel, known as the Lower Ward, was a hive of activity. Amid the bustle of castle workers, soldiers were carrying kit bags through the Henry VIII Gate into the castle grounds.

The event’s mix of royalty, celebrity, pomp and ceremony has drawn stratospheric levels of interest around the world and will be broadcast live to tens of millions.

Thousands of well-wishers descended Friday on Windsor ahead of the wedding, which has drawn royal fans and an international media throng to the castle town and royal residence 25 miles west of London.

Union Jacks have been unfurled, security barriers and police patrols put into place and fans were already camping out to capture the prime viewing positions for Saturday’s royal carriage ride through the town.

Friday’s announcement that Markle has asked her future father-in-law Prince Charles to offer a supporting elbow, stepping in for Markle’s father after he became ill, meant arrangements were almost complete for Saturday’s royal wedding.

Kensington Palace said Prince Charles “is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to the royal family in this way.”

Harry and Prince William, his brother and best-man, delighted royal fans when they emerged from Windsor Castle late Friday afternoon to greet well-wishers.

If Harry was feeling nervous, he didn’t show it. The smiling prince gave a thumb’s up and answered “Great, thank you” when asked how he was feeling on the eve of his wedding. The 33-year-old prince accepted a teddy bear from one well-wisher as he chatted to people from Britain, the United States, Canada and elsewhere.

Tens of thousands of spectators, including many Americans who have come in support of the California-born Markle, are expected in Windsor to soak up the royal atmosphere. British police say they will be subject to airport-style security scanners and bag searches. Metal barriers have also been erected to stop vehicle attacks like the ones that killed several people on London and Westminster bridges last year.

Sniffer dogs and mounted patrols are also out and about, and well-wishers have been asked not to throw confetti when the newlyweds ride through town in a horse-drawn carriage Saturday.

“It poses a potential security risk and it’s a bit of a pain to clean up!” said Thames Valley Police.

Buckingham Palace also announced that Queen Elizabeth II’s husband the Duke of Edinburgh will attend the royal wedding, just a few weeks after undergoing a hip replacement operation. Harry’s 96-year-old grandfather has largely retired from public duties and it had not been clear earlier whether he would be well enough to attend.

Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, flew to England from her California home earlier in the week and had tea Friday with the queen at Windsor Castle. It was her first meeting with a head of state with whom she’s about to share a family bond.

On Thursday, Ragland dined with William’s family and a day earlier she met Charles and his wife Camilla.

Having the father of the groom escort the bride is yet another twist in a royal wedding that is proving to be different from many others.

Master baker Claire Ptak said Friday that the royal wedding cake — a three-part layered lemon and elderflower cake — will have an “ethereal” taste and be presented in a non-traditional way.

Markle will not have a maid of honor but there will be 10 young bridesmaids and page boys, including 4-year-old Prince George and 3-year-old Princess Charlotte, the elder children of William and his wife Kate.

The 600 invited guests include members of the royal family and celebrity friends of Harry and Meghan’s including, it’s rumored, Elton John. Also invited are several of Markle’s co-stars from the legal TV drama “Suits.”

The couple will be married by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in a Church of England ceremony, but the Most Rev. Michael Curry, the first black presiding bishop of the US Episcopal Church, will also deliver a sermon.

Curry — the son of an American civil rights activist and the descendant of African slaves — has spoken out for gay rights and plans to join a march on the White House next week to reject US President Donald Trump’s “America first” stance.

On Friday, Curry said seeing the couple up close, he saw “two real people who are obviously in love.”

“When I see them, something in my heart leaps,” he said. “That’s why 2 billion people are watching them.”

Harry, at 33, has always struggled with his royal role and for much of his youth seemed to want nothing more than to escape.

He spent 10 years in the British army, serving two tours of duty in Afghanistan, but hit the headlines for his partying and his outspoken criticism of the media.

The prince has rebuilt his reputation in recent years, however, through his charity work with veterans and by taking on more duties from his grandmother. He appears to have inherited his mother Diana’s ability to connect with people — as well as her sense of mischief — and, with his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate, has helped put a fresh face on the monarchy.

At 36 and with a successful self-made career behind her, few doubt that Markle, a television star and humanitarian activist, will be a worthwhile addition to the cast of the monarchy.

Markle made her name as savvy paralegal Rachel Zane in the US legal drama series “Suits,” but cultivated a high profile for herself outside the show too.

She became a United Nations advocate for women’s empowerment and a global ambassador for the World Vision Canada relief agency. The Los Angeles-born star had more than two million followers on her now-closed Instagram account and ran a successful lifestyle blog, The Tig.

Markle was also revealed as the anonymous blogger behind The Working Actress, which chronicled the struggles of hustling for parts in Hollywood.

“She comes across as very poised, eloquent, thoughtful,” said royal writer Andrew Morton, who has penned a biography of Markle.

Between 2011-2013 Markle was married to Jewish film producer Trevor Engelson, who helped her get on the acting ladder.

Through a mutual friend, she met Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson Harry in July 2016 while visiting London. Their romance quickly blossomed on a whirlwind camping trip to Botswana.

Israel’s Tourism Ministry will piggy-back on to Saturday’s Royal wedding with an advertising campaign that will run outside Windsor Castle, Hadashot news reported Thursday.

The video campaign, which has been shown in the UK and Europe for some time, has been tailored for the event, and suggests the new couple come to honeymoon in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

It will be shown four times every hour for 15 hours outside Windsor Castle on a big screen, where tens of thousands of people will come to participate or watch the wedding.