'Future king will have to work around us. It's a big occasion'

Three young couples have learnt that they will be sharing their wedding day with a few unexpected guests.

Three young couples have learnt that they will be sharing their wedding day with a few unexpected guests.

The world's media will be there, along with hundreds of police and royal protection officers, to keep an eye on the thousands of wellwishers due to descend on the venue of their choice. There will be the Prime Minster and the Leader of the Opposition. At least the Queen is staying away.

Parking spaces will be at a premium on Saturday for the friends and relatives of the three couples, who are to share their wedding venue with the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles. The royal wedding is to be slotted into Saturday's schedule at the eleventh hour at Windsor's Guildhall Council Chamber.

But yesterday Fraser Moores and his bride-to-be Grace Beesley were holding firm to their 2pm wedding. Mr Moores, 34, a technical engineer said: "The future king will have to work around us. I haven't got any sympathy for him. It's a very big occasion for us."

The couple, who live in Windsor, are spending more than £15,000 on their wedding day, with 100 guests. Mr Moores and his fiancée, a 33-year-old marketing executive, have hired a vintage bus to transport their guests to the reception in Maidenhead.

Friends and family will be coming from all over the world ­ including Mr Moores' native Canada. Acknowledging that the change of plan will involve a few logistical problems, he said: "I don't imagine we'll be able to drive up to the door of the Guildhall as easily as we thought we might do." His best advice for Charles and Camilla was that they should "just get on with it" on the Friday.

The second couple, Royal Signals Army Major Thomas Crapper and entrepreneur Deborah Biltcliffe, both 34 and from Bath, will wed at 3pm. Ms Biltcliffe said she and her fiancé thought it was "great" that the wedding had been moved. "It's really quite fun for us because we're inundated with phone calls from TV and press and media which, of course, is not what we're used to."

She insisted the royal wedding would not change her wedding day, which will conclude with a reception in Cookham, Berkshire. "We're clearly focused on why we're there and getting married to each other and our own party," she said.

Finally, Nadine Hopkins, 31, and Jim Hooper, 30, are due to be married at 4pm ­ a slot they booked a year ago. Miss Hopkins said she was excited and terrified about the thought of walking through Windsor with hundreds of cameras pointing at her. "Your wedding day is a nerve-racking affair as it is, without the world's media watching you."