Locals Gather For Royal Wedding Watch Parties
HAVERFORD, Pa. (CBS) - Members of the British Officers Club of Philadelphia gathered in the ballroom of the Merion Cricket Club to watch the royal wedding Friday morning.
Members of the club, founded in 1919 by Brits and Americans who served together side by side in World War I, feel a special kinship with William, who as a British Officer served in Afghanistan.
John Reiss, the past president of the Officers Club, says the pageantry of a royal wedding is close to the hearts of Brits on either side of the pond.
"For us who grew up with it, the ceremony is incredibly important. The regimental bands marching and the flags flying and the coaches and everything else. It's just thrilling."
The guests here are dressed as if they were attending the wedding themselves, with men in suits and women wearing posh hats and fancy dresses.
READ MORE ROYAL WEDDING COVERAGE FROM CBS NEWS | PHOTO GALLERY
One of the millions of people watching the royal wedding is the daughter of KYW's Jay Lloyd -- she attended the same college as Prince William.
Katherine Lloyd was two years behind Prince William when the two attended the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. So did they ever hang out?
"Not hang out in the same sense that you would normally assume," she says. "Be in the same place, yes." Like a pub. There were a couple of times. As much as possible he seemed to have a normal social life in the town as it was a town concentrated mostly on four streets. You're bound to be in the same place at the same time at some point."
Lloyd, who now lives in Manhattan, got up early this morning to watch the wedding with a friend.
Has she had the urge to name drop?
"Unfortunately it has come up a couple of times and without meaning to I've slipped and said "Oh, I've seen him around. The temptation is certainly there but I would never brag."
Reported by Mike DeNardo and Paul Kurtz, KYW Newsradio
