Royal Watchers Line the Streets
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. I am here in beautiful, sunny, Windsor, England, where the excitement is palpable. Roughly 24 hours from now, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will say I do. In the past hour, we've had some big, breaking news. Prince Charles will walk Meghan down the aisle. There was all sorts of speculation, you'll remember yesterday, about who would play that role after Meghan released that statement saying that her father will not be attending the wedding because of medical issues, and she was sad about that. Meghan's mom is here in Windsor. Her name is Doria Radlan. And she is set to meet with the queen for the first time today at Windsor Castle, that you see behind me. We're also learning some more new details about the royal nuptials. So CNN's Jason Carroll has all of the developments.</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Royal watchers have lined the streets surrounding Windsor Castle, anxiously waiting for the moment Meghan Markle and Prince Harry say I do.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a member of the royal family. It's Diana's youngest son.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm happy for Harry. I'm happy -- no, happy for Meghan as well.</s>CARROLL: Before the ceremony, 1,200 specially invited guests will gather on the grounds of Windsor Castle so they can see the arrivals of the bride and groom. Guests like 11-year-old Lily Hey and her family.</s>LILY HEY, INVITED TO ROYAL WEDDING: I was surprised.</s>CARROLL: Hey's family received a letter inviting them after Kensington Palace learned the Hey's had raised money for cancer research following the death of Lily's eight-year-old brother.</s>L. HEY: When I first read it, I was like, what? And so I had to get mom to read it over and explain it properly to me.</s>SUSAN HEY, LILY HEY'S MOTHER: The last thing you expect, any of us, never mind at 11, to be receiving the invitation of the year.</s>CARROLL: This ceremony, now just hours away, will happen inside St. George's Chapel. Just 600 guests, mostly family and friends, will have a seat here. The ceremony is expected to last about an hour. Then, the royal procession begins. Security is asking us to stay back a little bit. But what you're looking at right now is a rehearsal for the Household Cavalry. This is the military guard that's going to be escorting the newlyweds through their procession through the streets. Once outside these gates, the carriage carrying the newlyweds will be met by thousands of their fans. Some are already here. They'll then head down Castle Hill. Then the procession will turn left to the High Street.</s>CARROLL (voice over): The procession will circle streets around the castle, packed with souvenir shops stocked with plates, cups and flags bearing the image of the royal couple.</s>CARROLL (on camera): You're here now. You're here early.</s>IVANKA SIOLKOWSKY, ROYAL WEDDING SPECTATOR: I'm a super-ish fan.</s>CARROLL (voice over): It's for fans like Ivanka Siolkowsky have camped out for days.</s>SIOLKOWSKY: I was at the first one, like William and Kate's as well. I actually wasn't going to come out. And then last Wednesday I thought, oh, come on, I have more connection to these two than the last ones. Siolkowsky worked alongside Markle. She was an extra in the final episode of "Suits," the TV series that made Markle a star. That's her holding the glass of champagne in the scene.</s>SIOLKOWSKY: Where she was dancing was about -- we were this far away. So just a simple hello. But she was very pleasant.</s>CARROLL (on camera): Yes.</s>SIOLKOWSKY: And it was nice to see her.</s>CARROLL (voice over): Final stretch of the procession will take place on The Long Walk. It's a picturesque tree lined avenue in Windsor Park that ends where it will all begin Saturday at Windsor Castle.</s>CAMEROTA: And, Jason, we are going to talk about that. Why isn't it her mother giving her away? So we'll get into that. And, by the way, The Long Walk that you just addressed is right behind me. This is the beautiful sort of pebbled path that you see behind me. And that's where their carriage will be coming down tomorrow. So, how will Meghan Markle change the monarchy? One of our favorite royal watchers, Victoria Arbiter, joins us next.