An utterly delightful royal wedding special

Published: May 22, 2018, 5 a.m.

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What drives someone who\'s not particularly interested in the monarchy to watch a full royal wedding? We found out this weekend as we switched our TV over to the BBC and soaked up the atmosphere in Windsor for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle\'s wedding, all from the safety of a Swiss chalet in the Bernese Alps.

Notes on this episode of your \'British guide to Switzerland\' podcast

Who pays for a royal wedding? BBC\'s \'Reality Check\' does a nice job of trying to\\xa0break down the figures, albeit it without too much information at their disposal.

And while we\'re on the topic... how does\\xa0the Queen\\xa0afford all those new dresses?

Not everybody loves the Royal Family, and not everybody wanted to watch the wedding. Campaign group Republic\\xa0launched a petition\\xa0in advance of the big day to try and stop taxpayers\' money being spent on the event. It had 32,000 signatures.

And something we didn\'t hear mentioned during the festivities, but which was covered in the UK press beforehand, was how the homeless were having their property, including sleeping bags,\\xa0put into storage\\xa0before the wedding, while royalists camped out on the streets overnight to secure a spot to watch the day\'s events.

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