The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton

A Royal Wedding cream tea.

This is my hat for the day - a Red Hat!

From the moment I Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their wedding date, I knew that it was an event that I simply couldn't miss!  

It helped that I had lived in Pimlico, London, for a time.   I got to visit Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace (where I had tea at the Orangery), St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.  

I even visited Althorp, where Princess Diana is buried.  I saw her wedding dress, and I met her brother, Earl Spencer there.  He autographed a copy of his book, Althorp: The Story of an English House for me.

I took the day off and prepared to celebrate the nuptials in my own way - with an English cream tea, my style!  

I live on the East Coast of the USA, so I woke up early - at 4:15 A.M.  It was perfect timing, and I was able to watch the wedding while commenting on the entire experience with friends via Facebook and Twitter - something that wasn't around when Prince Charles and Lady Diana got married.  My fingers flew across my iPad and iPhone and we gossiped and commented on all of the proceedings from four different countries - The USA, South Africa, England and Australia.

I absolutely loved the entire experience.  The term "Waity Katy" became a thing of the past the moment HRH Catherine Duchess of Cambridge stepped out of Westminster Abbey on the arm of her beaming new husband,  HRH Prince William Duke of Cambridge.  His surname is Mountbatten-Windsor.

Our verdict - the bride was simply stunning and elegant, while her husband was intense and dashing, and he looked like he was completely in love with and enthralled by his new bride.

Her dress was gorgeous - simple yet intricate - apparently the seamstresses had to wash their hands every thirty minutes and change out their sewing needles every three hours in order to keep the dress as perfect as possible.

I was disappointed by the lack of flowers in Westminster Abbey.  The trees were a nice touch but I felt that it looked rather like trees in a shopping mall.  I think even just a few flowers would have been a nice touch.

Kiss and kiss again! The two kisses on the balcony were enough to make William flush with embarrassment and pleasure, it seemed, making him appear to be even more down to earth and appealing.

And as they drove off to Clarence House after the reception, in Prince Charles' vintage car, we all wished them well and everyone really does hope that they get it right and live out a happy life together.

Scones with Clotted Cream and Strawberry Jam.

As for our cream tea, I had to have my all time favorite - Twinings English Breakfast Tea, served with raisin and orange walnut scones with clotted cream (yes, the real thing) and strawberry jam.  If you have never had clotted cream before, you should try it.  It is an extra thick velvety cream that is made by heating milk and then leaving it to cool slowly in a shallow pan.  Cornish clotted cream is made only by using milk from cows in Cornwall.

Chocolate Petit Fours and a Vanilla Petit Four shaped like a red hat with a flower were perfect to nibble on.

A Teapot Teaspoon is a nice touch.

Cheesecake, orange cake and a cherry tartlet helped make my simple tea simply decadent!
 

My favorite cuppa - English Breakfast Tea.

If you are interested in Cream Tea or High Tea (which includes sandwiches), check out the two videos that I included in this post.

I make a point to have cream tea or high tea wherever I am in the world, including The Ritz in London and The Victorian Lounge in the Old Winter Palace Hotel in Egypt.  Below are two videos that I made, one about the charming New Leaf Tea Room in Riverton, New Jersey, and the other about The Victorian Lounge in Egypt.  Enjoy!

If you watched the Royal Wedding, I hope that you had as much fun as we did!

Until next time!

- The Sassi Wench