Frances and John Canning’s luck changed in 2012 when their invitation to the late Queen Elizabeth II for their wedding was accepted.
The couple, from Prestwich, had booked Manchester Town Hall for their civil wedding and were informed four weeks before their nuptials that they would be “sharing the building with a VIP” scheduled to visit the premises on the same day.
Upon discovering that the ‘VIP’ was actually the Queen, the Cannings sent a lighthearted letter to Buckingham Palace, extending an invite to their special day, hoping the monarch would attend.
On 24 March 2012, the Queen did just that, taking a detour from her busy schedule to surprise the happy couple.
“When we had our ceremony, the staff asked us to wait for a moment in the corridor and just a few minutes later the Queen arrived. She knew both our names and apparently we had been specially added to her rota,” the bride Frances told Manchester Evening News at the time.Â
John, the groom, added: “I’m a big fan of the royal family. When we found out who the VIP was we wrote to her, a bit light-heartedly, and got a nice letter back from a lady in waiting. We didn’t expect anything further to come from it.”
Speaking of the moment she met the Queen in her wedding dress, Frances added: “It was a bit scary but lovely. She was so nice and gracious. She was beautiful, a really nice woman, and wished us all the best.”
The Queen looked radiant in a pastel pink coat and matching hat as she surprised the newlyweds. She carried one of her beloved Launer handbags and wore white gloves to complete her impromptu wedding guest ensemble.
This event is the only known instance of a member of the royal family accepting a wedding invitation from a member of the public, and it is especially remarkable given that royals often decline invitations to their own family’s weddings.
