The wedding celebrations

So, the wedding of the year has been and gone, the entire world (it seems) having marvelled at the poise and elegance of the new Mrs Wales – sorry, “Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn and Baroness Carrickfergus”.

But how did people mark the occasion? Here are three accounts of events around England on Friday:

1. Naked celebrations defied brisk weather in Northumberland where naturists held a wedding party at their clubhouse in Newburn. Members delicately painted union flags and other appropriate symbols on one another before settling down to watch events at Westminster with homemade sandwiches and cake. Club secretary Mike, who preferred not to give his surname, said that more of the party would have been held outdoors had the weather been milder.
2. Villagers in the Isle of White village of Whippingham continued to celebrate in the style first adopted in 1863 for the nuptials of Edward, Prince of Wales and Alexandra of Denmark. The unmarried women of the locality were brought into to the market square as events in Westminster Abbey unfolded, and the traditional “Whipping-them” floggings were duly administered.
3. The small Oxfordshire town of Abingdon went ahead with ordering 4,000 currant buns for the mayor and councillors to hurl from the roof of the local museum on to celebrating crowds. The strange bombardment is a local tradition dating back to 1761. Buns were last thrown in July 1981 to mark the wedding of Prince William’s parents and are due to fly again in 2012 for the Queen’s diamond jubilee.

The rather scary thing is that two of the above are actually true – as reported in The Guardian yesterday. We’re a strange nation at times!