today at five, the final countdown to the royal wedding, as meghan markle‘s mother arrives in windsor to meet the queen. doria ragland was accompanied by prince harry and her daughter to meet the queen for tea ahead of tomorrow's ceremony. prince charles will walk the bride down the aisle, after meghan‘s father couldn't make the wedding because of ill health. with just under 2a hours to go, final preparations are almost complete in windsor as visitors fly in from around the world. american princess meghan, i can dance on the issues! we came to the wedding of william and gate, and the birthday and a jubilee. it doesn't

mean so birthday and a jubilee. it doesn't mean so much that she is american, but as harry has found someone that he really loves. — — but as harry has found someone that he really loves. —— catherine i'm martine croxall. the other main stories on bbc news at five. at least eight people are killed in a high—school shooting in texas. the area remains in lockdown. the former russian agent sergei skripal leaves hospital more than two months after he was poisoned with a nerve agent in salisbury. the prime minister says alleged derogatory comments made by the commons speaker, john bercow, are unacceptable — if found to be true. and ryan reynolds returns as deadpool with the help of his own super—team to fight the villain cable. we'll hear what mark kermode thought of deadpool 2 in the film review. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at five.

you are as you can see, we you are as you can see, we have moved inside the walls of windsor castle, and this, tomorrow, will be the focus of millions of viewers all over the world. this is st george's chapel, this is where prince harry will marry meghan markle tomorrow in a ceremony due to begin at midday. and just to try to give you a sense of the geography here, we can see the ropes that have been put out, because this is where the 600 or so guests will be tomorrow. one hopes in the glorious windsor sunshine. they will arrive and walk down the slope here, and the south door that

we are looking at, we have seen lots of florists at work, and you can see the flowers that are being trained around that porch there and... this is going to be the focus very much for tomorrow's celebrations. well, it's been a busy day here in windsor, as it is, of course, in the last 2a hours before any wedding, really, but this really has the eyes of the world on it. we know that gloria ragland, meghan markle's mother, has met the queen today. —— loria our first report tonight comes from royal correspondent nicholas witchell. the final piece of the wedding choreography. it will be prince charles who will walk meghan markle

to the altar tomorrow. a statement from kensington palace said... this is how it will work. ms markle will enter the chapel through the great west door, and then walk through the knave of the chapel accompanied by bridesmaids and page boys. and then at the choir screen, prince charles willjoin her and walk with her through the oldest part of the chapel to the altar where prince harry is waiting. it is said to be ms markle's wish, after discussions with harry, that in the absence of her father, it should be prince charles

who will accompany her to the altar. it will be seen as a symbolic welcoming of her to her new family. but among wedding watchers on the streets of windsor, there was some disappointment that it won't be ms markle's mother doria walking her to the altar. we'd have liked to see her mother walk her down the aisle, or her would walk herself down the aisle. if it were me, i would be pleased with charles walking me. it's the father figure, you know what i'm saying? and it means, "hey, meghan, i love you, you're in love with my son, welcome to the royal family." whatever her mum was comfortable with, if she wanted to i think that would have been lovely, but if she preferred not to, it's wonderful that prince charles is doing it. so the arrangements for tomorrow are now pretty much complete. it's also been confirmed that the duke of edinburgh will be attending the wedding, six weeks after his hip operation. windsor is basking in the sunshine and bracing itself for the biggest royal event here in recent memory. it is the place to be for the royal family's most devoted supporters. this is the third night in a row. i love harry, ijust think

he's so down to earth. we went to william and catherine's wedding. i'm a big royal fan and a princess diana fan. it's not that she is american, it's just that harry has found someone. one more night to go, and then harry and meghan‘s big day will be here. our royal correspondent daniela relphjoins me now. this is the absolute focus now. we are getting a real insight into what it is going to be like tomorrow, this is where the big choreography will happen ahead of the wedding, so the big slope in front of us is where we are going to see the main 600 guests, the invited guests to

the wedding, come down tomorrow. they're coming to decathlon buses, which will park out of sight around the corner, and then we will see them walk around, the spice girls, them walk around, the spice girls, the cast of suits, coming down that way into the south door. you might be able to pick out some of the foliage around there, we know that the theme is wild, natural landscapes, so a lot of the flowers have come from the crown estate and from windsor great park, so a natural look. and from what we can pick out, that seems to be the theme. but also these robed off areas, the grassy areas in front of st george's chaplow, that is where people who have got the golden ticket, people who have done charity work, worked in some way with prince harry and meghan markle or have been nominated by various organisations, they will get a chance to be inside they will get a chance to be inside the castle grounds, so they will be

the castle grounds, so they will be the first people to see meghan markle as she arrives, and the first to get to see them as they go off as husband—and—wife in the open topped carriage. the images everyone how waiting to see, we have been told that meghan markle has chosen flowers to go on top of the wedding ca ke flowers to go on top of the wedding cake as well, so we real theme going on there, and that ties in with, as we have been saying for a few days, the couple wanting, as far as is possible, to put their own mark on tomorrow. certain restrictions, certain protocol, but they want to have their own stamp on it as well. no question, just being here, we get the sense that this will be like a royal wedding, whatever anybody says about it being a bit more informal and different. we are in this extraordinary landscape of st george's chapel, and i think it will feel very grand and traditional in so many ways, but they do want it to be more intimate and personal, even members of the public here will

immediately feel different from about eight o'clock tomorrow morning, when they come in, and then inside the chapel there will be a gospel choir, a cellist playing a solo, the episcopal bishop from america doing the sermon. there will be aspects of the ceremony that will be aspects of the ceremony that will bea be aspects of the ceremony that will be a very different, but all in all i think it is going to feel very much like a royal wedding but with some personal touches. much like a royal wedding but with some personaltouches. plenty for much like a royal wedding but with some personal touches. plenty for us to talk about, thank you very much, daniela relph, who will be following all of this tomorrow, as we all will. we can also get the thoughts this evening of the daily mail royal commentator robert hardman, who is at castle hill, good to talk to you this evening. with just a few hours to go, robert, your thoughts about what we might expect tomorrow, at about what the next 2a hours or so holds. i think there is a palpable change of tone, real excitement, i do not know if you have been able to look around the streets in the last few hours, the word has gone around that perhaps there might be a

walkabout by the groom, it is as though the wedding is about to start any minute now, they are five or six deep down by the queen victoria statue. so the expectation is already cranking up, and i think, you know, all the glitches of the week, if you like, are behind us now, we are on the final furlong, to coin an equestrian phrase. you refer to them as the glitches of the week, only on thursday the news was dominated by the announcement that meghan markle's father would not be able to come to the uk. what are your thoughts about that choice, a p pa re ntly your thoughts about that choice, apparently very much meghan markle's choice, to ask the prince of wales to escort her down the aisle? entirely her choice, i'm sure the prince will be very touched, and it isa prince will be very touched, and it is a happy resolution to a week, it has been very sad for some one expecting her father to has been very sad for some one expecting herfather to be there, but i think it underlines the fact that eu families are coming together, and for the prince of

wales, what an honour. for somebody who has followed the royal family for a long time, what are your thoughts in terms of the personal touches that harry and meghan will have been able to put on tomorrow? some of them more formal, thinking of the important involvement of the military personnel, which is of course something close to prince harry's hard. yes, he is a former household cavalry officer, for him, that will be a particularly special moment, with his old comrades, some of whom he served with in afghanistan. so that, in one sense, isa afghanistan. so that, in one sense, is a bit of grand ceremony, but on the other it is a very personal moment. i mean, we have heard all month these personal touches, whether it is the flowers, the cake, the music — they have been able to put their mark on this. but at the same time, you know, here we are in a i,000—year—old castle, you have also got to pay not back to william the cobra as well! yes, not quite

time for you and me to discuss that, but thank you very much, enjoy tomorrow, robert hardman. many of the crowds, of course, will be gathered just outside the castle here, but they are stretching down the long walk, that beautiful walk out of windsor. simon mccoy has more on all of that. yes, the crowds here are already pitching their tents, many will be staying overnight so they get the best place to see the newly married couple tomorrow. let's talk to one man who knows array of old, ken wharfe, a former bodyguard of diana's, and as such you grew up, saw the boys growing up. a security question first of all, most of the members of the royal family are here, what does that mean in security terms? each member of the royal family as a protection team,

and it is a well—run system, but outside of that, i mean, it is the responsibility of thames valley, working in close cooperation with scotla nd working in close cooperation with scotland yard, and this is a major ceremony at which scotland yard has the lead. this is something meghan markle will have to get used to when she becomes the duchess of whatever it is. duchess of princess or whatever, this is life changing for her, because out of necessity she will need her own protection team — already has one — and that means doing a diana, getting on with that team, forging a relationship to make sure that the information about what they are doing is passed on correctly. prince harry, asi they are doing is passed on correctly. prince harry, as i say, you looked up to his mother, you saw him and you saw william crawley up. there was a mischief about prince harry, was there that there was not about william ? harry, was there that there was not about william? they were great

friends together, my first encounter with them was as a six and a four—year—old, leaving kensington palace, travelling down to highgrove, and william and harry had an argument, and the nanny was on the back seat, saying, stop it, both of you. diana was driving, i am listening to this, and harry, out of nowhere, led across and said, listen, i don't care, you will be king, i won't, listen, i don't care, you will be king, iwon‘t, i can listen, i don't care, you will be king, i won't, i can do what i like! diana nearly crashed the car! she said, where did he get that from? nanny strikes a slap across his chest and we move on. but he is a character. i think we see that now, and we have certainly seen it in the last few years. it is an entertaining thing, his streak of character. wickedness, tell me about that bath—time of yours, ken! character. wickedness, tell me about that bath-time of yours, ken! well, you know, in a way the nursery was right next to my room, so kids at that age get bored, they knock on

the door, ken, give us a game. i say, look, i havejust run a bath, 0k? he say, look, i havejust run a bath, ok? he said where? i went back in my room, harry disappears, go to the kitchen, the chef gives a bottle of food colouring, cochineal, i come back, and the bat is bright red. the quy back, and the bat is bright red. the guy in the corner, come here, chasing him down the corridor! but that sort of character and that sort of fun at kensington palace was engineered by diana, who involved all members of staff, it was an extended family in that sense. you said something very important about his relationship with his brother, it was close then, and we will see tomorrow how close they have become. william identified, as a child, and does so now, that harry is the joker, the sort of courtjester. in a sense, william is problem the envious of his brother's popularity, simply because of his ability to communicate with all people across a really wide sector of the public,

and despite the mistakes that have been made, that is life. tell me about this process of allocating a close protection officer, you are called, to a member of the royal family. will meghan have any choice, oi’ family. will meghan have any choice, or is she given someone, does it have to be a woman, how does it work? well, the system has changed somewhat recently, brought about maybe because of the cost reduction of public services, but that said, you know, she won't have a choice, they will agree a team in the hope that particular team will get on with each other. if it doesn't, and sometimes it doesn't, then you change them around. it is notjust a question of the whole idea that this bodyguard has, you know... you and kevin costner often get confused, don't you?! i was ready for that, simon! unless there is that relationship, it will be difficult, because you have to work in close harmony. that is the nature of the job. meghan is like harry, a

superstar, global, so her life will change dramatically. and it is important that she gets on with the protection team, because that is how it is going to be. will she ever be able to leave wherever she is living and just walk down a high street on her own? can that ever happen? those days are gone. diana did occasionally have some privacy, but i think it is unlikely now, given the global terrorist activities, and i think that those days have gone. that is not to say that they shouldn't have fun, but certainly for the foreseeable future, every time she leaves kensington palace or wherever they decide to end up, there will be a protection team. you have got to make it work, live with it and have fun. now, the crowds that are here today, that, in many ways, is any police officer's worst

nightmare, because you have mentioned the terrorist threat, there will be police officers on duty just making sure there will be police officers on dutyjust making sure there's nothing untoward going on. dutyjust making sure there's nothing untoward going onlj dutyjust making sure there's nothing untoward going on. i have been here a couple of weeks and have been here a couple of weeks and have been very impressed with our thames valley police have worked and activated a variety of different security styles. people joke about trains being locked out, but they have been lifted. —— drains being looked at. there would be enough to police to make sure that harry and meghan are safe, as the thousands of people. if you were to ask me about one fear, it is the opportunist guide at once to make a name for him oi’ guide at once to make a name for him or herself, and that as more of an embarrassment factor than anything else. but given the numbers of police in uniform that will be on duty, think it is highly unlikely, and my guess is that it will be a stress —free and my guess is that it will be a stress—free day. and my guess is that it will be a stress-free day. oh, really?! certainly in that sense! great to see you, ken, ken wharfe.

thousands of people are expected to be coming to windsor, hoping to catch a glimpse of the royal couple, where after they get married they'll travel through the streets in a carriage procession. the procession will leave castle hill, travel through windsor‘s high street, onto sheet street, kings road and albert road, and then it will proceed up the long walk all the way back to st george's hall by windsor castle for a lunchtime reception, which is being given by her majesty the queen. we can talk to someone who was lucky enough to be going tomorrow. suhani jalota, the founder and director of the myna mahila foundation based in mumbai, whose mission is to bring equal access to health care services for all. is itfairto is it fair to say that until harry and meghan said they wanted money from their wedding to go towards you, very few people had heard of you, very few people had heard of you, you are very new, and this is quite a coup. very small organisation, founded only in 2015,

but since this news has come out, we have gained a lot of credibility in this space, and the women we are working with can be sure the work they are doing is really important, women's empowerment and the menstrual hygiene space in india. did you meet them to explain what you did and think nothing more of it? yeah, we met in 2016, me and meghan model at an awards ceremony, where they had paired each ten girls with a mentor, and the problems around menstrual hygiene, more than 50% of the women don't have access to hygienic methods to manage their menstrual cycle appropriately. so the impact of that announcement, are you already seeing a benefit?‘ the impact of that announcement, are you already seeing a benefit? a lot, it has been a huge turning point, we have seen a 100 fold increase in our website clicks, lots of different supporters in india and globally, that has really helped the powerful

voices of the women on the ground, being heard on a global scale. so it has been a huge impact. and you are going tomorrow, aren't you? yeah! don't give too much away, but do you know what you are going to wear?m is me and three other women, we will be wearing traditional indian sarries, the dress code was day dress and they had, but we really had to represent india, so we thought that was the best fitting outfit for the case. good luck with the charity. thank you so much. that is the scene here in windsor, on the long walk, lots of people crowding m, long walk, lots of people crowding in, we will be back tomorrow, now back to martine croxall in the studio. at least eight people have died at a shooting in the texan city of santa fe. please responded to reports of shots being fired at a high school

near priston, texas, at around 8am local time. they say the situation j. 7 has i”’ the v'lctims are the victims are to be of the victimsarebelieved—te—be although of the victimserebelieved—te—be althoughpzl'ie—ei are $32492>§§§5 iié-l—i—ié—ijlééi-ezez'esz iégié’...” .... ....... . . ... outside, and m “was“- and yo”! boom, as fast . i could so i could a ifast. i could so i could a i iii; my luld so i could a i fzig my mum. i could a 1552 my mumncould a | i“? my mum. i was d hide. i called my mum. i was sitting in the classroom, i heard really loud booms, and i didn't know what they were at first, and i realise what they were when i heard screaming, i got up and i ran, and we went onto the stage, and we hid backstage, then the alarm started

going off, and we stayed there for a while, until the swat found us. a few moments ago, president trump addressed reporters. everyone must work together at every level of government to keep our children safe. may day two he'll be injured and comfort the wounded, and may god be with the victims, and with the victims' families. —— may god heal the injured. sad day, very, very sad. peter bowes is in los angeles, there seems to be varying reports about the number of casualties from the shooting, what are you hearing? yes, we still don't know for certain, the authorities are saying at least eight people have lost their lives, but clearly it is still relatively early days, just a couple of hours since this happened, and what will be happening right now is

that police investigators will be going through that school, looking in every nook and cranny to see if there are indeed any more victims inside. so it could be some time before we get a final number, and thatis before we get a final number, and that is not unusual in situations like this, very chaotic in the minutes and hours after a shooting like this, and tragically it is an all—too—familiar situation, with children being led out of the school to safety, some taken to a local garage, and auto shop, as it is called here, and at the same time their parents rushing to the scene to see if their children are safe. authorities are expected to say more in the next hour or so about what has happened, and we know that one person, we understand the shooter, has been arrested, and another person, we believe two students. whether they are connected, we do not know at this stage. a number of people have also been taken to hospital. peter, thank you very much, peter bowes with the latest from los angeles, and of course

there will be much more coverage of that here on the bbc news channel throughout the evening as it becomes more obvious what has happened in sa nta more obvious what has happened in santa fe. let's return to windsor, shall we? we can join santa fe. let's return to windsor, shall we? we canjoin simon mccoy, where the walkabout is starting. simon, in your element, i know(!) well, it has been quite a day, martine, head of tomorrow's celebrations, prince harry and meghan markle arrived, all the final preparations are now almost complete, let's hope. let's remind you what happened earlier, the couple were pictured leaving kensington palace at lunchtime, together with meghan's mother, doria ragland. they headed here, where they were introduced to the queen. harry and meghan were not, they have met before, but meghan's mother has not, so it was a huge moment for all those concerned. it was also announced earlier that the prince of wales will now walk meghan markle down the aisle

tomorrow, her father thomas, meghan markle down the aisle tomorrow, herfatherthomas, of course, not able to attend because of ill—health. in a statement released at ten o'clock this morning, prince charles was said to be pleased to be able to welcome ms markle to the royal family in this way. we will have plenty more coming up way. we will have plenty more coming up here in the next half—hour on the bbc news at five, and of course tomorrow you can watch every moment of prince harry and meghan markle's big day, a royal wedding special programme live on bbc one and the news channel, full coverage starting from nine o'clock tomorrow morning. right now, let's go to sarah keith—lucas, who is down with the crowds on long walk for a look at the weather. the crowds are arriving here, and i'm joined by a couple of local residents, so first off, are you going to be watching the procession tomorrow? definitely, we will be here bright and early, enjoying the weather, we are very excited. so you

are looking forward to tomorrow? yeah. tell me about your crown. otherwise it is very beautiful. yeah. tell me about your crown. otherwise it is very beautifullj made otherwise it is very beautiful.” made it. do think it will be nice weather? yeah. i think they are pretty lucky with a day like this, enjoy your day tomorrow, have a wonderful time, the weather is looking pretty good, in fact, for the royal wedding tomorrow. it is a bit like today, we have got dry weather in charge, notjust here in windsor, but up and down the country, and that is because high pressure is in charge, bringing lots of warm sunshine and light winds around. at there this afternoon, thatis around. at there this afternoon, that is pretty much what we have got, cloud across northern and western parts of the country, a little bit of fair weather cloud building elsewhere, but a gorgeous afternoon with temperatures generally up in the high teens. things will turn quite a bit cooler as we head to the evening and overnight, with clear skies and light winds, we are going to be

looking at a fairly chilly start to saturday morning, temperatures first thing around 2—10d or so, so looking fresh, particularly in the countryside, a crisp start to your saturday morning. misty patches first thing as well. any cloud should clear away fairly quickly, looking at beautiful conditions in windsor, and top temperatures by the afternoon reaching around 21 degrees in the sunshine. now, as we move through the course of the day, in windsor, it is looking dry and bright with some sunshine, the same can be said across all of england and wales, always a bit more cloud across parts of northern ireland and scotla nd across parts of northern ireland and scotland as well, more of a breeze as well. temperatures tomorrow are going to be a degree or so warmer than today, highs reaching 19—21 degrees. early morning in windsor is beautiful, but if you are camping out tonight, it is going to be fairly fresh first thing in the morning. the odd misty patch around should clear away pretty quickly.

during the morning, though, things will warm up with all that sunshine on offer, a little bit of fair weather cloud will not be spoiling the day, remaining dry and bright as well. by the afternoon, highs in the region of around 19—21, maybe 22, feeling fine wherever you are across the country, a little bit cooler around the coast with an onshore breeze. we have got a couple of big football matches, saturday afternoon, remaining dry for the scottish cup final in the fa cup final, and that fine weather holds on into sunday as well, england and wales dry, lots of sunshine on offer, a little bit more cloud across scotland and northern ireland, 16—18d. in the sunshine, further south and east, highs of a pleasa nt 22 further south and east, highs of a pleasant 22 or even 23 degrees. so those temperatures doing very well for the time of year, looking at glorious conditions through the

course of the weekend, certainly looking beautiful here. wherever you are, have a wonderful weekend. and now a round—up from the sports centre. good evening. manchester united will be looking to equal arsenal's record of 13 fa cup wins, when they face chelsea at wembley tomorrow. matches between the two teams have been tight in recent years, with only three of the last 13 meetings seeing more than two goals scored. but mourinho said lot‘s of goals are not what define a game as entertaining. i still do not understand this words of entertaining. do you think of 6—0 as entertaining? if you win, yes. i don't think so. i don't think it entertaining. i think entertaining

is the emotion until the end, open result until the end, is everybody on their seat until the end, being nervous and tense with the unpredictability of the result, that, for me, as a football lover, not as a manager, but as a football lover, for me that is entertaining. you play the final, at the end of the day, we want to win, and for sure, i think it will be a tactical game, and i don't know, i don't know what type of game we will see. but, for sure, this game will be very tough for both teams. celtic are chasing a domestic treble for a second season in a row. they face motherwell at hampden park in the scottish cup final, as they look to add to their league cup and premiership

title this season. but their opponents are hoping to spoil the party and the man running the club says motherwell are going for their own treble. manager, paul lambert, has left relegated stoke city four months afterjoining the club. lambert took over from mark hughes in january and recorded just two wins from his 15 games in charge. in a statement the club said that "whilst lambert was unable to guide us to premier league safety after being appointed injanuary, it wasn't due to a lack of effort, professionalism and dedication on his part. the club now planning for life outside the premier league." some of the world's greatest athletes and para athletes are gathering in manchester city centre for the great city games. it's all beginning about now. reporter ade adedoyin is there. what is coming up? it is urban athletics and they have erected a

track in manchester city centre, a chance for members of the public to get up close and personal with the likes of allyson felix, one of the most decorated olympic athlete. jason smith, who competes in the visually impaired, georgina armitage who will be competing for athletes with cerebral palsy. it is a great opportunity for members of the public to see these athletes up close. the whole purpose of this format is to increase participation and draw new audiences to the sport. behind me, some of the schoolboys and schoolgirls will be competing before the main event gets going. on sunday will be the great manchester run. it will have an emotional start to the race with robbers remembering the manchester arena attack last year? taking place almost a year

after the manchester attack. the number of people affected will be competing as well, raising money for charity. i spoke to one of them who said it has been an emotional and difficult year and he hopes to raise charity for —— money for the charity that helped save his life. mo farah, he also talked about how important it was to have an event like this. also important preparation as he makes his transition from the track to the road. his ultimate aim is to win an olympic marathon gold in 2020. thank you forjoining us from manchester city centre. we'll have more for you in sportsday at 6:30pm. it though we would give you flavour

of the crowds. a lot ofjournalists, as well as members of the public but we have been reflecting on bows out on the streets of windsor, camping out overnight. glorious day and you have to take your hat off to those who are but determined. our royal correspondent daniela relphjoins me now. this is why they spend days and days camping in cold temperatures, tomorrow is their big moment? they are here because they want to see the moment, the open top carriage when it leaves windsor castle about 1pm tomorrow and they get their chance to see the new royal bride and her husband, meghan markle and prince harry out in the carriage. some people have been here about a

week now. thank goodness the weather is fine so it is making life easier. looking down, flags from germany, canada, australia and people have travelled just for this one moment. these are the dedicated fans who are waiting for their moment tomorrow. the number we have been speaking to, some of them were at william and kate's wedding. some of them went to see the prince of wales and camilla's wedding. i know not everybody in the country feels the same way but by definition here you will get the people who are very keen. they have had a busy few days let's talk about someone who has had a busy day and that is meghan markle's mother. by thing only flying in from california this week and a remarkable day for her today? yes, she had afternoon tea with the queen today and it is the culmination of three amazing days. she arrived in london on wednesday

afternoon, she went straight for tea at clarence house footy with the prince of wales, the duchess of cornwall. she was at windsor for a wedding rehearsal and then she met the duke and duchess of cambridge and the oldest children, prince george and princess charlotte, who will be a page boy and the bridesmaid tomorrow. and then afternoon tea with the queen and the duke of edinburgh this afternoon. her head must be spinning, as well as the jet her head must be spinning, as well as thejet lag. she her head must be spinning, as well as the jet lag. she will have got the importance, the tradition and the importance, the tradition and the protocols. you get an immediate sense of grandeur. yes, duty. what it must feel like when you are fresh of from your suburban home in california, it will be important to her. there has been speculation in the last 48 hours that it might be

heard that might walk her daughter down the aisle. let's talk to the choice of the prince of wales. there was talk yesterday of who would replace thomas markle, who would replace thomas markle, who would replace her father in terms of walking her down the aisle. the mood music was could it be her mum, she has feminist thoughts, she has spoken openly about gender equality. but this morning we had a statement from kensington palace from meghan markle saying she would ask the prince of wales to do the job of walking her down the aisle. that is her choice. kensington palace have been clear to say there was no pressure on her in terms of this should be done, you need to have a member of the royal family to replace your father. it is what she wanted, she discussed it with prince harry and she wanted to ask the prince of wales to take on the important role of walking her down

the aisle tomorrow. she will begin her walk down the aisle surrounded by her page boys and bridesmaids. on her own, with those children if she can police them around her she walks halfway down the aisle and at that point, the prince of wales picks her up, collect handles the final walk to the altar to his son, prince harry. the oldest of those children is only seven. we won't know the order of service until tomorrow. we knew it wouldn't be released until tomorrow and that will be interesting. prince harry is sixth in line to the throne, but it is a couple were once, as far as it is able, to put their stamp on the ceremony. that will be interesting to look at? as with any wedding there will be a mix of tradition and personal touches but they have made it clear they will be putting their

stamp on this wedding and they want to share it with the public, they wa nt to share it with the public, they want people to share in their day as much as possible. some members of the public have the golden ticket and they will go into windsor castle tomorrow morning and they will have a bird's eye view of the arrival and departure is. although we don't have the full order of service, we do have a flavour of the ceremony itself. we know there will be a gospel choir, which is unusualfor a royal wedding. a solo cellist playing which will be an emotional moment. the bishop from america coming over to address the congregation during the ceremony. these are personal touches, american flavour, the gospel choir. it isn't what we would normally get in a traditional royal wedding. no question there will be elements that there will be personal touches. question there will be elements that there will be personal touchesm terms of guests, striking they said

we are not inviting politicians. it is not what we want, it is our personal day. you have to do if you are the heir to the throne and he is not a direct heir to the throne. there will be a lot of fascination to look at those 600 people watching them all coming in and out. we will be able to see them going into the south door of the chapel tomorrow. there isn't an official list. he would expect to have a list of ambassadors, leaders from other countries, politicians from the uk. it isn't the case. they have been told they don't need a former list, they can invite who they want to do. we will not see the prime minister, we will not see the american president. it will be their friends, people they have had association and contact with so it will be a personal list. thank you very much. we will leave this group of crowds

for now. and just down the road from me is simon mccoy who is on long walk. it has been confirmed prince charles will be walking meghan markle down the aisle in the absence of her father. with me is now is afua hirsch, the journalist and author of the book which looks at the issues of race and identity. i think ithinki i think i did hear a lot of dog whistle racism when their engagement was announced. it was coded but in a way it makes itjust as pernicious. coded, how? she was linked to

criminality, she was from a gang neighbourhood and prince harry would be dropping round for tea in a hail of bullets. very loaded phrases that suggest blackness is something problematic. you did right along those lines and you were not surprised by the reaction? as always is the case when people pretend something isn't there. when you raise these things in britain, people accuse you of being the victim and having a chip on your shoulder. and then prince harry came out and made a statement which backed me. it was a welcome moment. it is all too easy to be dismissive of those things, but most people don't see them because they are not affected by them. is this the moment, we have a mixed—race member of the royal family now, is this a historic moment? it is, but it is

important to put it in context. we have long—term problems with structural racism in britain. not one wedding can change that but it is about symbolism. the royal family go to the very heart of what british people think of as identity. for me growing up in this country as a mixed—race british person, the fact i was not exclusively white, meant it wasn't totally british. she is also proud of her heritage.” remember the time and lots of people interviewing and they said i belong. i have relatives here in windsor and it is not a particularly diverse place. i have many african—americans feeling emotional saying they feel it is one of them entering the royal family. people from backgrounds who have never felt a particular connection to the royal family

before. i would meghan markle be feeling, america has problems with racism as well, but different to ours? america has serious problems with racism but in america, they had a civil rights movement, there is a language of race and the struggle forjustice. we language of race and the struggle for justice. we haven't language of race and the struggle forjustice. we haven't been to the same experience and therefore people who want to point out the similar problems of historic racism, it is harder to have the conversation because we are not literate in the language of struggle. i think she mightfind it language of struggle. i think she might find it complicated to navigate race here. it is also quite awkward talking about things in britain, we like to pretend they are not there. what about prince charles walking her down the aisle and not her mother, is it a missed opportunity but others are saying it isa opportunity but others are saying it is a fabulous way of welcoming him/her into the family?” is a fabulous way of welcoming him/her into the family? i see this