From East End to Markle village, divided Brits unite for wedding revelry

At street parties and pubs around the kingdom, Britons celebrated Saturday's royal wedding with bunting, booze and bonhomie in a welcome respite from the divisions and uncertainties of Brexit.

Families, friends and neighbours converged to watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exchange vows in the last major royal wedding for a generation.

With clear blue skies replacing Britain's often dreary weather, the mood was joyous. "It's just nice to have some good news for a change -- something happy," said Pamela Daniels, a creative director, enjoying a street party outside the east London bakery of Claire Ptak, the royal wedding cake maker.

 

Scores of urbane Londoners filled the block, toasting the newlyweds with sparkling wine.

"Today we are royalists for sure, tomorrow not anymore," said Gitta Gschwendtner, 46, a longtime German transplant to London.

"But I love it. Her dress was gorgeous."

Local authorities across Britain approved hundreds of party applications, which allow roads to be shut and decked out with decorations.

Britain's street parties are a favourite tradition on national days of celebration.

At a social housing complex in London's traditionally working-class East End, a couple of dozen residents held a bash funded by a local council grant.

A mix of longtime locals and newer arrivals from Europe and the United States enjoyed a table spread of food as music played.

US organiser Kate Eberwein, 39, said most of her neighbours who had turned out were not British.

"It's a good opportunity to show we decided to come here, make our home here, and we love it." Retiree Janet Price, 69, born in the East End, said the day prompted nostalgic memories of the first street party she attended: the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 -- when she was aged just four.

"It was wonderful. With rationing still going on it was a treat," she recalled of the food-filled festivities then.

While more than 100,000 royalists descended on Windsor to witness the action, 1,500 ticketed guests settled for picnics and an open-air screening in the park of London's Kensington Palace, the newlyweds' residence.