Although the royal wedding was a huge event in U.K. culture and history, the Brits weren't only ones to celebrate. With more than 1 million royal wedding watchers in London on Friday, people from all over the globe filled the streets with their best outfits and hats on to essentially see the future King and Queen of the England tie the knot.
Whether they were students who just happened to be in the area because they were taking a semester abroad or they were self-proclaimed royalists who have been obsessed with the family since birth, the mix of cultures, languages and ages added a sparkle to an already illustrious event. I went through the crowd to talk to some of these people who, at times, traveled great distances just to be part of history and found out why they wanted to see Prince William and Kate Middleton get married.
"I decided to come because I've always been fascinated by the royals. And I just knew it was going to be a great time and a once in a lifetime experience. So here I am. I've always thought in the back of my mind that when I heard he was going to get married, I would probably come. And so as soon as they announced the date of the engagement, I booked my hostel. I always followed Princess Diana and always wanted to meet her. And of course, I didn't get a chance to do that. But I was here for the one-year anniversary of her death with all the fields of flowers. I had a ticket to go to her gravesite and her family's estate. I just always thought that coming to William's wedding would be a neat experience, and it is." -- Denise Little, 36, Works in Human Resources, Redding, Calif.
"I wanted to see the Queen, Prince William and Kate and Kate's wedding dress so that's why. And I really like royal families. I like the clothes, and I like the prestige that they present." -- Maria Prelec, 18, Student, Ljubljana, Slovenia
"I love everything about the royals. But compared to England, Holland is nothing. The English royals are amazing. I love it. My friend and I are going to make a big sign that says, 'I'm going to marry Prince Harry.' He's the tougher guy and is second in line so he doesn't have the obligations but he's still a prince, and he's cute." -- Veerle Hisken, 24, Student, Rotterdam, Holland
"We came all the way from Mexico just to come to the royal wedding. We got here two days ago. We instantly made friends, and we took turns watching each other's stuff in case we needed to go to the bathroom or get something to eat. So we had a little family going on. The nights were cold, but it's nothing but a little sacrifice to come to an event like this. This is part of history." -- Claudia Pacheco, 27, Radiographer, Mexicali, Baja California
"I have no really great reason except my friend said, 'What are you going to be doing on April 29?' And I had no plans. Then I thought, 'Why not?' Why shouldn't I experience one of the greatest events that will probably take place in a decade? And I also remember when Lady Diana died, and this will be one of the events where I'll actually remember where I was. So I thought it would be nice to be somewhere really cool when I remember where I was [for the Royal Wedding]." - Jennifer Cummings, 38, Human Resources Director, Redding, Calif.
"My friends and I all studying abroad right now so we figured since we're here [in Europe] we may as well come down to see it. There's tons of people back home would be insanely jealous. I think we're infatuated by it because we don't have a king and queen in the US so it's something that's kind of cool that we don't have." -- Rachel Kaminski, 21, Student, Chicago, Ill.
"It's just so foreign for Americans because we don't have any royal family in our country. So we're coming over here to experience something new. And this event only happens once in a while and my not happen again in our lives. And it's probably the biggest party in the world today. So we couldn't miss that part. [Camping out] was cold, and I have shorts on. [Rachel] gave me a sweater because I just have a short-sleeve polo." -- Michael Mulica, 20, Student, Chicago, Ill.
"There are six of us. When we decided we're all going to be in Europe at the same time, we were like we have to go and made our reservations in January and are happy to be here because we figure it would be a hot weekend to be here. As soon as we knew we were going to study abroad and they announced the wedding, we knew we had to come here." - Maeve Gately, 21, Baltimore, student in Paris
"Being Canadian, the monarchy is part of our history. So it's always been something that I liked and followed and everything. But just to be part of the spectacle and be here and be part of it for two days. And just being part of everything and all the people we've met, it's just amazing." -- April Andersen, 28, Nuclear Medicine, Mexicali, Baja California