Expat royalists celebrate Windsor wedding with high tea and champagne

Mumbai: The Union Jack was everywhere, on buntings, cushion covers and mugs. Children wore masks of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Harry while posing for pictures. Saturday's royal wedding of Prince Harry with Meghan Markle in Windsor drew enormous interest among the British expat community here in Mumbai.
Tarts, sandwiches and champagne were passed around at parties in Bandra and Versova where people gathered to watch the live telecast.Some are members of the popular Bombay Expats group. Every aspect of the ceremony was discussed from the wedding dress and lemon-elderflower cake to the uniquely American sermon by bishop Michael Curry of Chicago.
Versova resident Kavita Pushkarna who was born in the UK, runs a travel business there. "I am definitely a royalist," she said over high tea. "The monarchy is a wonderful British tradition. Prince Harry is a normal man and has found a woman who is normal. The fact that Meghan is older, expat, mixed race, actress and divorced just adds to the normality."
A cheer rose when Prince Charles stepped up to give the bride away. Pushkarna said, "I would have loved to see Meghan march on her own. But the fact that Prince Charles walked her through is a nice welcome into the family. Also he doesn’t have a daughter of his own so it is great that he gets to do this western 'kanyadaan'!"
London lawyer Sarita Pereira, who had moved to Mumbai after marriage, held a party in Bandra where the wedding was screened in projector style. Everybody wore red, white and blue. "We prepared cucumber sandwiches, sausage rolls and homemade Royal Wedding chocolate biscuit cake (which was made for William and Kate's wedding). These were served on Union Jack cake tiers and washed down with champagne."
Nick Pillow teaches at an international school in Mumbai and is also a stand up comedian. He says the marriage has the potential to unify people, especially after Brexit. "I like that the ceremony is about who the couple are rather the expectations surrounding a royal wedding."