A couple invited the Queen to their wedding – and she accepted.
Sweethearts Frances and John Canning were amazed when the Queen appeared as surprise guest of honour on their big day.
The couple, from Prestwich, had booked Manchester town hall for their civil wedding.
But they were shocked when staff phoned to say they would be sharing the venue with ‘an important VIP’.
Replay our live blog below where our reporters filed live updates, video and pictures throughout the day
After learning it was the Queen, the couple wrote a lighthearted letter to Buckingham Palace inviting her to join their party.
They were pleasantly surprised to receive a reply from the Palace thanking them for the invite – and stunned when the Royal visitor made a detour from her original schedule to turn up to wish them the best.
Bride Frances, 44, who runs a hairdressing salon, said she was flabbergasted to be greeted by name by the Queen.
She said: “We booked the town hall ages ago but we got a phone call four weeks ago telling us that a VIP would be in the building on the same day.
“We never dreamt we would be able to meet her.
“When we had our ceremony, the staff asked us to wait for a moment in the corridor and just a few minutes later the Queen arrived. She knew both our names and apparently we had been especially added to her rota.”
Groom John, 48, said: “I’m a big fan of the Royal family. When we found out who the VIP was we wrote to her, a bit light-heartedly, and got a nice letter back from a lady in waiting. We didn’t expect anything further to come from it.”
The couple’s 40 guests stared in amazement as the Queen, Prince Philip, and dignitaries lined up to congratulate the newlyweds. John, who works in a hairdressing supply business, said the moment was ‘like a dream’.
He said: “The Queen asked how we were feeling, and congratulated us. Prince Philip was asking where in Italy we were going for our honeymoon. They had clearly been briefed about what we were doing.”
The Queen enjoyed a three-course banquet at the town hall as part of her Diamond Jubilee visit to Manchester and Salford.
Earlier in the day, a crowd of thousands who were waiting for the Queen to emerge cheered as Frances climbed the steps of the town hall, before tying the knot in a first-floor conference room.
But the couple’s pal Peter Jackson, a self-employed businessman, said there was no hint of what was to follow. He said: “We had to have security checks in advance. So we knew that she was going to be there. But we thought we would be kept well away from the reception.”
Fellow guest Hayley Fitzpatrick added: “We didn’t know where to look. All of a sudden the Queen and Prince Philip were there in front of us. I was so surprised I knocked something over - she looked at me and asked if I was okay.”
The Queen also visited Manchester last year to open up the new Co-operative HQ in the city centre.
Take a look at our pictures of her visit below...
Queen opens new Co-op HQ View gallery
Jubilant crowds turn out in Harpurhey to welcome Queen to Factory Youth Zone
The Queen opens Co-op Group's new £105m HQ
Queen and Prince Philip welcomed to Manchester by fanfare from music students
Video: The Queen and Prince Philip in Manchester to open new Co-op building and visit youth centre in Harpurhey
Royal visit to open new Co-op building
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thats_not_flying on September 16th, 2018 at 22:36 UTC »
Way last century I was in SF on business. I was coming out of the City Center BART station, going up the escalator.
Suddenly a man stepped from the sidewalk and barred me from stepping off. A mild wtf moment (different era,people were kinder) and a few seconds later the Queen walked past! I was stunned! First, not a Royal watcher so I had no clue she was in San Francisco, and two...she was 15 feet from me!
The biggest surprise is how tiny she is. She is very petite. And she looks EXACTLY the same in person as she does in photos.
I'm not a groupie type,but I have to admit that Queen sighting, as random as it was,made me a little giddy, and all these years later I still remember it well.
As soon as she passed, the blocking gentleman stepped aside, apologizing. He was part of the security detail. I stepped out just in time to see her getting into a car, still saying "wow!" to myself.
Pretty cool.
Gemmabeta on September 16th, 2018 at 22:11 UTC »
The queen came to claim her right to Prima Nocta.
diegojones4 on September 16th, 2018 at 21:46 UTC »
I'm not a follower of royalty, but she does seem like a pretty fun person.