on the bbc news channel. we will and on the bbc news channel. we will leave you here at windsor castle and ta ke leave you here at windsor castle and take you through to the six o'clock news coming up next. earlier today, harry and meghan left kensington palace for the last time before the big day. they arrived at windsor waving to the crowds. in the last few minutes, prince harry and his best man, prince william, have been meeting well—wishers. with just under 2a hours to go, the last preparations at the castle are under way. thousands of fans from across the world have arrived. some have been camping out since yesterday. i'm camping out tonight, yes. i went back to my hotel last night, i was tired. but tonight i'm camping out with the rest of the fans. hey, harry, i'm here! laughter and the other main stories on tonight's programme: up to ten people are reported dead in a shooting at a high school in texas. the suspected gunman has been arrested. sergei skripal, the former russian spy poisoned by a nerve agent in salisbury,

has been discharged from hospital. and coming up later in the hour on bbc news... it's fa cup sportsday, as we look ahead to tomorrow's 137th fa cup final, between chelsea and manchester united. hello, and welcome to windsor. i'm inside the walls of the castle. st george's chapel is behind me, where the royal wedding will take place tomorrow. you can see the foliage and white roses being placed around the door. so many final preparations taking place. after much speculation, meghan markle has asked prince charles to walk her down the aisle. her father, thomas markle, is unable to attend the wedding in windsor because of ill health. prince charles said he was "pleased

to be able to welcome ms markle to the royal family in this way". tonight, we'll be speaking to a few of the lucky guests, i'll be finding out the best place to watch the procession, and we'll be hearing from two couples who are also getting married tomorrow. but first, our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, on the final preparations. the night before his wedding, and this evening, harry emerged to meet the crowds. he was accompanied by his brother and best man, prince william. some of those behind the railings, and these are of course are the most enthusiastic of course are the most enthusiastic of the most enthusiastic of loyal fans, have already been waiting for several days. waiting, of course, for moments like this. a weight which has at least been made a little easier by the spring weather. windsor has been basking in sunshine, and bracing itself for what promises to be the biggest

royal event to be staged here in recent times. the choreography is complete. harry and meghan leaving kensington palace for windsor this afternoon were evidently incomplete agreement that the absent father of the bride should replace by the father of the green —— were evidently in complete agreement. a statement from kensington palace said... this is how it will work... liz markle will enter the chapel and will walk through the naive and accompanied by the bridesmaids and page boys. on the choir screen, prince charles willjoin her and is caught her through the most historic pa rt caught her through the most historic part of the chapel where harry will be waiting for her bride. it will

stand just that, by the chapel‘s high altar, they will exchange their marriage vows, and then the archbishop of canterbury will declare them to be husband and wife. for the bride, that solemn moment of her marriage into the british royal family will be witnessed by only one member of her own family. her mother, doria ragland. she was at windsor castle this afternoon for tea with the queen. there had been speculation that she would have walked her daughter to the altar, and among wedding watchers in windsor there was some disappointment that you wasn't. we would like to see her mum walk her down the aisle, what her walk herself down the aisle. law if it we re herself down the aisle. law if it were me, i would be pleased with charles walking me. he's the father figure, you know, and it means, he, meghan, i love you. you are the love of my son, welcome to the royal

family! i think whatever harm was co mforta ble family! i think whatever harm was comfortable with, if she wanted to, that would have been lovely, but i think it is lovely that prince charles is doing at —— whatever her mum was comfortable with. the finishing touches are being put on plans which have been worked on for months. windsor is preparing for crowds on possibly unprecedented scale. police have launched a big security operation mounted by the thames valley force. the military, who will be on parade, are back in barracks getting ready. —— are back it is april wedding to be celebrated and enjoyed. —— it is a royal wedding. just one more night on the pavement. try to keep awake. tomorrow is harry and meghan's big day. nicholas winchell, bbc news, windsor. among the guests arriving on the grounds of windsor castle tomorrow will be members of the public. 1200 were selected from around the country — a reward for services to their community.

our community affairs correspondent, adina campbell, is on the long walk in windsor for us now. people are gathering their already? that's right, it's gradually starting to fill up here in windsor this evening. people are busy with excitement, enthusiasm, jubilation ahead of tomorrow's big day. more than 2500 members of the public have been invited as guests, and i've been invited as guests, and i've been to meet a few of them to find out how they are feeling. hi, my name's lila. hi, i'm olly. hi, i'm honour. hi, i'm poppy. and we're excited for the royal wedding! and what better way to start this weekend's wedding celebrations than with a tea party? making the most of the sunny weather, royal school here in windsor has been gearing up for the big day for months. some have even been invited. and what are you going to be wearing? we're going to be wearing... our school uniforms. and somebody‘s ironed a nice badge

on, and we've got summer uniforms. and we're going to be wearing a hat. a straw hat. and they have this advice for meghan. it's a very new world to her, because she used to live in america and now she's in the uk and england, and it's going to be very different. she'll probably need to change her accent, because she's american. yes, and she needs to, like, fit in, but i think she's already doing that well. yeah. we talk about why or how prince harry and meghan are this force for good that i mentioned earlier on... up in bolton is 21—year—old said. he's been running this young people's magazine for the last seven years, and got the idea because he felt there was a lack of positive stories about teenagers. his work has also earned him an invite to windsor tomorrow. you never do what you do for recognition, you do it to change the lives of young people. and when you get that kind of recognition, it was like, wow, ok, someone's actually believing in what i'm doing.

i think that meghan and prince harry are a power couple, absolutely. i mean, i've seen them both speak at events before they were a couple, and meghan was talking about racial inequality and female empowerment and i thought, well, i didn't know who she was, and i thought, you know, that's fantastic. are these for the wedding? yes, this is special for the wedding. and i'm hoping maybe to give a few away on that day to people who i think deserve to be given a handkerchief from... in north london, pamela is also getting ready for this weekend's nuptuals. she runs this creative therapy workshop to improve people's mental health. tomorrow, she'll be taking her son jude as part of the day out, but says she was shocked when she received the invite last month. i believed this might be just an april fools prank, a joke. why would i be invited to a royal wedding? oh, my gosh!

i blessed them a million times. i love both of them, actually. iwas, like, wow, prince harry's lucky. he's a lucky man. now, the most important question — what are you going to be wearing? african and english designs. you wait till that day, you will be so jealous of my beautiful outfit! and for everyone else, this is the next best spot to be in. this is where prince harry and meghan markle will hold their official procession. as you can see, people are starting to back best position possible to get a glimpse of the newly married couple —— people are starting to bag the best position. for everyone else, of course, there is the new screen behind me. adina, thank you. there is a tremendous atmosphere in this small town, already teeming with visitors and royal fans. harry and meghan, like other royal couples before them, have decided to take a carriage ride after their wedding vows to greet the crowds.

i went to find the best places to spot them along the procession route. the banners are hung. the bunting is ready. at 1pm tomorrow, the royal couple will appear on the chapel steps to board their carriage, and ascot landau, pulled by windsor greys, accompanied by mounted guards from the household cavalry. here's a look at their route. the carriage will make its way through the narrow streets of windsor‘s town centre, along a 1.5 mile—long ride back round to the castle. the royal couple will come down castle hill, and then on to high street, where the pavements will be crammed with thousands of well—wishers, hoping to get their first glimpse of the royal couple. and if you want to join them, you'll probably have to get up at the crack of dawn. these roads are expected to be very busy. and the authorities advise planning ahead and using public transport. but, be warned, trains won't stop

at the local stations once the town has reached full capacity. from here, the carriage route will go out of the centre, all the way down to kings road. there will be street parties up and down the country. but here in windsor, for the whole town, it's just one big street party. and, as the carriage comes passed, if you're lucky enough to live here, you'll get a perfect view. the wedding procession will finally make its way along one of windsor‘s most famous landmarks — a tree—lined road known as the long walk. to see the newlyweds close—up, this is where you might want to grab a spot. bring a picnic, or there will be plenty of food stalls here, and you canjoin thousands of spectators. soak up the atmosphere and sieze your moment to get a photograph of harry and meghan as they go past and wave them off. the grand procession is expected to last around 25 minutes — with giant tv screens to capture for the crowds the carriage as it passes.

it's then just a short procession up through cambridge gate and into the castle behind me and then on to the wedding reception in st george's hall. let's speak to nick witchell now. he is at castle hill, just outside the walls here. the bride—to—be will have just one member of her family with her. it has been a difficult few days. yes, it has, there's no denying that. there will be just that one member of her family, denying that. there will be just that one member of herfamily, her mother. the markles are family with some issues, they are not a customary family, as much as there is such a thing, marrying into the british royal family. but then many families have issues, the windsors have issues. as we have discovered over the last few days, there are pretty fractious members of the wider markle family and kensington

palace has had difficulties over the past few days to control things. they pretty nearly lost control of things for a couple of days, we had to rely on a gossip website in america for news about thomas markle. but a line was clearly drawn yesterday when we learned that mr michael was not coming. as i understand it, meghan markle immediately concluded after discussions with harry that the right and best solution was that prince charles should accompany her to the last few yards to the high altar. that gives a massive opportunity for the future king of the united kingdom to be seen embracing the newest member of the royal family, an american actress, riley of mixed—race background, who tomorrow willjoin the british royal family —— proudly of mixed—race background. nick at castle hill, thank you very much. i will be back later in the programme here from windsor. for now, it is over to rita in the studio. the time isjust now, it is over to rita in the studio. the time is just coming now, it is over to rita in the

studio. the time isjust coming up to 6:15pm. our top story... the final countdown to the royal wedding. prince harry and prince william have been beating well—wishers in windsor this evening. and still to come... we hear from some other couples sharing their big day with harry and meghan. coming up on sportsday on bbc news... taking athletics out of the stadium and onto the streets. mo farah's amongst the big names set to compete in the great city games in manchester this weekend. up to ten people have been killed after a gunman opened fire at a school in texas. one suspect, a pupil, is in custody. explosives have been found inside the school building and surrounding areas. president trump has expressed his "sadness and heartbreak" at the shooting, which took place a0 miles south of houston, at santa fe high school. james cooke reports. the calls came in just before 8am.

again, a gunman on the campus. this time at santa fe high school. police searching schoolbags for deadly weapons. bobby united states, this is now routine, but no less terrifying for its familiarity —— for the united states.|j terrifying for its familiarity —— for the united states. i shouldn't be going through this at my school. this is my daily life, i shouldn't have to feel like that. i'm so scared to even go back. was there a pa rt scared to even go back. was there a part of you that's like, this isn't real, this shouldn't happen in splott no, there wasn't. why so. splott no, there wasn't. why som has been happening everywhere. i always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here, too. the teachers screamed at us to run, so we the teachers screamed at us to run, so we all took off. i ran through someone's yard and jumped through theirfence. someone's yard and jumped through their fence. the emergencies evers is poured onto the school ground. a sheriff confirming what everybody feared. this was another deadly mass

shooting. i hope it is not -- we have approximately ten that are not fully confirmed but i know it could be in this range. majority of those are probably students. the president of the united states appeared before the cameras, again, the most and least powerful person on earth. we grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our sport and love to eve ryo ne and send our sport and love to everyone affected ——, support and love. i've is absolutely horrific attack. and the threat may not be over. moments ago, police said explosive devices had been found in and near the school. americans are struggling to explain the inexplicable, again. james cook, bbc news. the former russian spy sergei skripal has been discharged from hospital. he was left critically ill for over ten weeks following his exposure to a nerve agent in salisbury. his daughter, yulia, who was also poisoned, was discharged last month. britain has accused russia

of being behind the attack, something moscow denies. daniel sandford reports from salisbury. when they were first poisoned with a military grade nerve agent almost 11 weeks ago, there were concerns they might not survive. but now, five and a half weeks after his daughter, sergei skripal has been discharged from hospital. the staff here when the skripals first came in would have been dealing with something that, to be honest, no other clinicians in the world have seen before. they really did an incredible job in taking the unknown and working through treatment, and maintaining life—saving therapy to get the result that we have seen today. i understand sergei skripal has spoken at length with detectives now and can walk but he is not completely well. in russia, president putin said, ifa military grade nerve agent had been used, the skripals would be dead. it was a theme picked up on by his ambassador in london. if it was really novichok,

and they were poisoned by novichok, the consequences would be very serious. sergei skripal‘s house, which police believe to be the scene of the crime, remains abandoned. the front door has been taken away to the chemical weapons laboratory at porton down for examination. counterterrorism detectives have warned their investigation could take many more months. the exact reason for the attack remains unclear but sergei skripal had continued in recent years to brief military and intelligence officers on what he knows about russia. over the last 11 weeks, the city of salisbury has, at times, looked like the set from an apocalyptic movie and small areas of the city remained cordoned off, awaiting a deep clean. just going back to the medical condition of the skripals and that

of nick bailey, it is worth repeating what happened. three people became contaminated with the legal nerve agent designed to be ha rd to detect legal nerve agent designed to be hard to detect and hard to treat and yet staff here, working with scientists from porton down were able to get their patients back on the road to recovery. at this stage it is not known what the lasting damage to their health will be. daniel, thank you. the department of health in northern ireland says more than 3,000 patients of the neurologist dr michael watt are being called to be reassessed, after concerns about potential misdiagnosis. the recall follows an independent review of his work. the number of patients being called back may still go up. our ireland correspondent emma vardy has this report. i spend my mornings in tears. i can't do anything that i used to do. now, all of a sudden, i am being told i'm going to start all over again, right from the beginning. eileen hay was a patient of dr michael watt for eight years. she has chronic pain disease and has had a brain aneurysm.

she is one of more than 3000 patients now facing an anxious wait to be reassessed. in the time that you were seeing dr watt, did you ever have any concerns? at first, no. i thought, i could not fault him. in the last two to three years, it just seemed, it was more feeling like a test subject. dr watt cared for patients with conditions such as ms and parkinson's. concerns about his work were first raised in 2016 by a gp. now northern ireland's biggest ever recall of patients is under way over fears some may have been given the wrong treatment. we need to understand how this happened. whether there are gaps in terms of how we currently monitor the performance — the clinical outcomes — of the patients. we need to learn from this because we need to ensure we prevent this from happening again as far

as we can. today the department of health in northern ireland said some patients may have been severely affected by a misdiagnosis and it's considering compensation for the worst cases. was there any more that could have been done? it's been a waiting game. but the trust has not revealed by that has been such concern over the work of one doctor that sparked a recall of patients on such a huge scale. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. downing street has said that theresa may regards as "unacceptable" remarks the speaker of the house of commons is alleged to have made about a cabinet minister. john bercow is accused of swearing, and of calling the leader of the commons, andrea leadsom, a "stupid woman" on wednesday. the speaker's office said mr bercow treated his colleagues with respect. the government of guernsey has voted against legalising assisted dying. a vote in favour would have brought guernsey closer to becoming

the first part of the british isles to allow terminally ill patients to end their lives with the help of a doctor. after a three—day debate, the proposals were rejected 2a to 1a. the royal wedding isn't the only big date in the nation's diary tomorrow. jose mourinho's manchester united will take on his old team — chelsea — at wembley in the fa cup final. and celtic play motherwell in the scottish cup final at hampden park. but who will get their hands on the prize? olly foster's at wembley for us now. good evening. i am good evening. iam in good evening. i am in wembley‘s royal box. tomorrow it will not be very broiled. the duke of cambridge is on best man duties tomorrow at windsor. that honour will fall to jackie wilkins, the widow of the late ray wilkins, the former england

captain who died last month. he also played for chelsea and manchester united. it will be such a tight game tomorrow. they have both been bridesmaids in the procession behind manchester city this season. all conquering in scotland has been celtic. they can complete another treble tomorrow at hand and if they beat motherwell in the scottish cup final. quarter past 5pm —— five 15 p.m. kick—off here at wembley. fascinating cup double we can look forward to. ollie, many thanks. from wembley to windsor. let's go back to fiona. here in the last hour we have seen prince harry and prince william. they came to meet the crowds gathering outside the castle. of course, harry and meghan are not

the only one celebrating their big day tomorrow. may is a popular month for weddings and there are couples across the uk also tying the knot. we've been speaking to two couples, one from coventry i'm monica. and i'm salesh. so, we're having two weddings. we're having our hindu wedding ceremony in the summer. but on the 19th of may, we will be having our civil wedding. the two weddings are really very different. our hindu wedding is a typical indian wedding and we are having 200 guests. so, a lot of prep is going into that one. the wedding on the 19th is... 80. is 80. so, a little bit more modest with the numbers. we've had a very busy 12 months. no free time. all the weekends are taken up. yeah. i think we're very lucky that we've got really supportive family and friends who have helped us where they can. but i think shailesh and i are both

very hands on people we like to get stuck in. today we are at heythrop park. we are here to do a site visit with our photographer. just so that he gets an idea of the venue, the space, a bit of our vision of the day as well, how things will flow. i love a royal wedding. it's almost like our wedding day's going to go down in history. it's the same date. so... what's nice is we get to share in the excitement that the whole nation is getting excited for this wedding and we are a part of that, too. my name's annie. this is my fiance. hello. i'm drew. yes. and this is henry. we met on a great popular online dating site. i knew almost instantly. we introduced each other to the parents quite quickly. the proposal was on annie's birthday. i arranged for a party. i went upstairs to get changed and i was hiding behind the bedroom door on one knee. i said, i'm wearing my slippers. you can't do this.

the family were there and we had a great big party. aren't they pretty? isn't that nice? itjust seemed quite perfect really. an outdoor setting. i'm a huge fan of shakespeare. midsummer night's dream. in terms of... the marquee's going to have greenery inside it, so it's an indoor woodland — an enchanted woodland scene. i'd love to have a quirky wedding vehicle, you know, like a campervan, ora beetle, or something really different. it will look lovely with the ribbons on. and it will be fun. it's different. we can get henry in there as well. i've heard that they're possibly going to have knickerbocker glories. are they really? and we're having a knickerbocker glory. so, that's another thing harry and meghan are stealing from us. it's everything that we wanted it to be because we were doing it ourselves. and, i suppose, meghan and harry are having their fairytale wedding and so are we. the sun has shone down on windsor

today. sarah keith lucas is on the long walk. it is always nice to be built are of good news particularly on the eve of a royal wedding. the forecast tomorrow is for things to stay dry. it will feel pleasantly warm. some decent conditions in the forecast, not just the windsor decent conditions in the forecast, notjust the windsor back up and down the country as well. pour the rest of this evening things will stay dry. late sunshine on offer but it will turn chilly when the sun sets. light winds and clear skies overnight. first thing tomorrow the temperatures will be down. a touch cooler in the countryside. the chilly start for anyone camping out in windsor first chilly start for anyone camping out in windsorfirst thing chilly start for anyone camping out in windsor first thing tomorrow morning. with the area of high pressure well and truly in charge of

the weather, it is looking fine, dry and settled. the forecast for windsor is that thing is to brighten up windsor is that thing is to brighten up nicely during the day. in the afternoon the temperatures are set to peak round about 21. elsewhere across the country, dry conditions we re ever across the country, dry conditions were ever you are. a bit more clout in the north west of scotland and parts of northern ireland where it will be breezy as well. cooler around the coast with an onshore breeze and temperatures reaching between 19 and 21 degrees. things are looking dry for the two big football matches, the scottish cup final at hamden park and the fa cup final. dry with sunshine and pleasa ntly warm final. dry with sunshine and pleasantly warm in wembley. it looks like this weather will continue on saturday evening and into sunday. high—pressure staying in charge on sunday. lots of sunshine for england and wales. little cloudier for northern ireland and scotland. things are looking beautiful. tonight is a big night form meghan

markle and her mother. they have arrived in the cotswolds, in a glorious stately home for the night. that is before the big day tomorrow for that you can see them arriving. doria ragland who only arrived on wednesday, this must be the most extraordinary turn of events for her. no doubt many conversations to be had with her daughter before they arrive at windsor tomorrow. who knows when we will get the first glimpse of the dress. for now, they are away from the public gaze for one last evening. and that is it from us here at windsor that there will be a special programme on bbc one from 9am tomorrow morning leading up to the big event.