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10 Royal Wedding Celebrations You Can Actually Get Into

Want to celebrate Will and Kate's big day outside of your living room? People all over the UK are coming up with inventive, sweet, or downright odd ways of experiencing the wedding day.

If you want to celebrate Will and Kate's big day, but don't want to do it in your living room, you are not alone. People all over the UK are coming up with inventive, sweet and downright odd ways of experiencing the wedding day. Here are a few of our favourites.

Clapham Common Campout

A group calling itself Camp Royale is planning the world's biggest sleepover -- 10,000 people camping out for three nights in Clapham Common Park in south London in celebration of the huge event. They envision a giant camp for adults, with music, games and entertainment, and the royal wedding shown on big screens as it happens. Event managers promise good security, great activities, and acres of fun. Possible downside: It will surely rain. This is England.

Where: Clapham Common, South London
How to Get There: Take the Northern line Tube to Clapham, walk outside, and there you are.
When: April 28-May 1.
Price: £75 for a 3-day camping pass; £2,000 to reserve a 'luxury' tee-pee.
More Info: www.camproyale.co.uk

Join a Street Party in Windsor

Home to Windsor Castle, said to be one of the Queen's favourite palaces, The Royal Borough of Windsor is going all out for the wedding, with more than 16 street parties planned throughout the town. You can join in the fun. Along the way you'll find out how a traditional English street party works, complete with bunting, homemade cakes, steaming cups of tea and the lusty singing of various official and unofficial national anthems. Best of all, street parties are usually free, and everyone tends to decamp to a nearby pub afterwards.

Where: In Windsor at 16 separate locations
How to Get There: First Great Western trains travel direct to Windsor from London's Waterloo station once an hour. You can also travel from Paddington station and change at Slough. Those trains depart every 15 minutes. The journey takes about 45 minutes.
When: April 29.
Price: Free -- sometimes a donation is requested.
More Info: www.rbwm.gov.uk

Watch the Wedding on Big Screens in Hyde Park

All the pageantry, glory and romance of the royal wedding will play out on enormous screens in London's Hyde Park. More than 200,000 people are expected to join what is likely to be the country's biggest wedding party. The event will have a festival atmosphere, with boats bobbing on the Serpentine, bands playing rousing tunes from the bandstand, a giant Ferris wheel slowly spinning, and other fairground rides designed to make you feel as queasy as a bride on her wedding day.

Where: London's Hyde Park
How to Get There: Piccadilly line tube to Hyde Park Corner.
When: April 29, all day.
Price: Free; £7.50 to ride the giant Ferris wheel.
More Info: www.royalparks.gov.uk

Go to Mahiki, with the Uninvited Friends of Kate and Will

The Kensington tiki-themed nightclub Mahiki was a favourite hangout for Will and Kate when they first moved to London after graduating from university. According to London gossip columnists, friends and associates of the royal couple who weren't lucky enough to receive an invitation to the royal nuptial will be gathering at the club for what's been dubbed the party of the uninvited. If you weren't invited, then presumably you're invited to this! Drinks tend to be large, rum-based, and vaguely Caribbean in nature. The music is loud. The outfits designer. The mood raucous.

Where: Mahiki
How to Get There: Mahiki is at 1 Dover Street. The nearest tube station is Green Park, on the Victoria line.
When: April 29.
Price: Admission is free, drinks start at £10.
More Info: www.mahiki.com

Go on a Cruise Anywhere in the World

You can celebrate the royal wedding at sea anywhere in the world. All the ships in the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet (except Norwegian Sky) will show the wedding event on screens two storeys high. The wedding will also be broadcast in pubs and bars on-board the ships. Those watching the wedding take place will be offered tea and champagne. The ships will also throw traditional British 'street parties' with bunting and British music. Other wedding-related events to be offered on board will include a Prince and Princess brunch, and a Royal High Tea. Throughout the day, ship restaurants will serve English fare, such a fish and chips and bread and butter pudding.

Where: At sea
How to Get There: The wedding will be shown on all Norwegian cruiseliners.
When: April 29.
Price: Cruise prices vary.
More Info: www.ncl.co.uk

Take Part in a Wedding Breakfast in St Andrews

The prince and his princess-to-be famously met while they were both students at St Andrews University in Scotland. So, what better way to spend their wedding day then exploring the cobbled streets and green fields of this beautiful part of the Fife? You can take in the ivy-covered walls of the 600-year-old school on your way to St Salvatore's Quadrangle, where town officials are hosting a public wedding breakfast. The meal will last six hours, and culminate in watching the wedding ceremony. The event is free, but there are a limited number of seats, so you'll need to apply for tickets in advance.

Where: St Andrews, Fife, Scotland
How to Get There: St Andrews is on the east coast of Scotland about 50 miles from Edinburgh. It has no train station -- the nearest station is in Leuchars. Trains from London Kings Cross stop in Leuchars about once an hour. The journey takes six hours.
When: April 29 starting at 10am.
Price: Free.
More Info: www.standrewsweddingbreakfast.co.uk/faq.html

Explore Hever Castle: Once Home to Another Royal Bride

Hundreds of years before the world heard of Kate Middleton, all of England was agog over another royal bride. Anne Boleyn grew up at Hever Castle, before marrying King Henry VIII. Their marriage was a national scandal (as he already had a wife), and her fate, as the history books tell us, was not a happy one. So, consider a visit to this beautifully restored castle, in the Kent countryside, a moment of calm reflection about how royal marriages can go horribly wrong.

Where: Hever, outside Edenbridge, Kent
How to Get There: Hever Castle is three miles southeast of Edenbridge on the B2026. Trains run from London Victoria and London Bridge stations to Edenbridge. You can book a taxi in advance to take you from the station to the castle. There are no bus services to Hever.
When: April 29 all day.
Price: Admission to Hever is £14.
More Info: www.hevercastle.co.uk

Join the Party at Kate Middleton's Local

The Old Boot Inn in Standford Dingley, Berkshire, has been a favourite of Kate Middleton's family for years. The pub's owner has even been invited to the royal wedding. While some of Middleton's neighbours are surely going along, others will be celebrating the wedding with a blow-out bash at the Old Boot, which is bound to last well into the night. The owner is returning from the wedding especially to attend the festivities. Champagne will flow, and there are bound to be many stories told about young Kate's adventures before she was royal.

Where: The Old Boot Inn, Stanley Dingley, Berkshire
How to Get There: Stanley Dingley is 10 miles outside Reading off the M4. The pub is on Bushnells Green Road.
When: April 29.
Price: Free, but you need to book in advance.
More Info: www.restaurant-berkshire.co.uk

Go to Ely to Celebrate Will, Kate and ... Eels

What better way to experience the royal nuptials than at picturesque Ely Cathedral, with a thousand enthusiastic wedding fans and...eels. The last weekend in April is traditionally the Ely Eel Festival, so this year -- given that both events take place at the same time -- they're combining the usual eel festivities with the wedding. On Friday you can bring a picnic, help yourself to tea and ice cream, and watch the ceremony on a big screen in the cathedral. Saturday is eel day! Learn all about the slithering creatures and then eat a few -- try them smoked or jellied if you're feeling brave.

Where: Ely Cathedral
How to Get There: First Capital Connect trains travel from London's King's Cross to Ely three times an hour. The journey takes just over an hour.
When: April 29 and 30.
Price: Free.
More Info: http://visitely.eastcambs.gov.uk/events/

Sip Champagne at Chatsworth House

Watch the wedding in appropriate royal style in the salubrious surroundings of Derbyshire's Chatsworth House. The family home of the Duke of Devonshire since the 16th century, the neo-classical building is the perfect place to relax and feel like a king or queen. The celebration here will, as you can imagine, be traditional in nature. A brass band will play in the bunting-draped garden, games will take place on the sprawling green lawn throughout the day, and there will be plenty of activities to keep grown-ups and children busy. You can start by raising an ice-cold glass of champagne to the happy couple.

Where: Chatsworth House, Derbyshire.
How to Get There: The closest station to Chatsworth is Chesterfield, two hours by train from London St Pancras station. Local buses travel from the station to Chatsworth. The house is eight miles from Matlock on the B6012.
When: April 29, starting at 11am.
Price: Admission to Chatsworth is £16.
More Info: www.chatsworth.org/whats-on/


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