I Crashed Kate And Prince William’s Wedding In 2011 And These Are The 9 Craziest Things I Saw

In a world with news of little George, Charlotte, and Royal Baby #3, it's strange to remember a time before Prince William and Kate were married!

So let's go back to 2011. This was before London hosted the Summer Olympics, before Prince Harry was spiraling in engagement news of his own, and when the world was just getting to know Kate Middleton.

Prince William and Kate had met while attending school together at the University of St. Andrews and began dating in 2003. After a brief split in 2007, the couple got engaged in October of 2010 while vacationing in Kenya. What an adventure!

Then, they tied the knot at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, with the world watching.

As I mentioned, I was living in London during the Royal Wedding because of a great study abroad program at my college.

The wedding fell at the very end of our semester's spring break, and I had just spent two weeks traveling to Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Athens. I was eager to head back to my home base in London and partake in the wedding everyone had spent months talking about.

Initially, my friend and I were happy watching the royal wedding on TV. Some of my friends and family back home in America told me they'd planned on waking up at dawn to watch the ceremony streaming online and across international TV channels.

Then, the morning of the wedding, I heard that some people were heading down to Green Park — one of the many parks in London, right next to Buckingham Palace — to watch footage of inside Westminster Abbey. I thought, why not? Let's head down to the Palace and just check it out.

Nothing could've prepared me for what I saw when we made it down there.

If you've ever wondered what a city in celebration looks like, London made an art out of the royal wedding: Union Jack flags lining the streets; red, white, and blue-colored signs and street lights; and a town bustling with tourists and locals alike. London transformed for Prince William and Kate's union.

Here are the craziest things I saw down at Buckingham Palace the day of the wedding.

I really cannot overstate how many people were actually outside and celebrating this event. Despite living in New York, I've never actually been in Times Square on New Year's Eve, but that's the closest event I can think of that so many people would turn out for.

The Daily Mail reported that over 1 million people turned up to Buckingham Palace, Green Park, and Trafalgar Square for the royal wedding, and it certainly felt like it!

Children, the elderly, couples, students, local Londoners, some Irish, Scots, Americans, and even Australians flooded around me as we waiting around the backside of the Palace.

A man and his young son had traveled all the way from Australia to see the wedding. I initially started talking to him in the crowd because he was holding a seven-foot ladder.

I said, "Sir, why do you have a ladder?" He replied, "To see the Queen, of course." Then he opened the ladder and climbed above the crowd. It was brilliant.

I knew that people loved British royalty, especially Prince William and Kate. But I think I underestimated how much people loved them.

At least four days before the wedding, a dozen or so people were already camped out in tents in front of the Palace. I didn't meet any of those people, but I quickly realized what a big deal all this was to royalists.

As an American, the idea of witnessing the royal wedding seemed like a bit of fun — something historical to be a part of. For some of the people present, this wedding was one of the greatest days of their lives.

It's an understatement to say that the entirety of London got into the wedding spirit.

That morning, I grabbed a cup of tea at the local cafe I frequented, and they had speciality mugs just for the occasion.

Clothing stores around the area were selling flags, Will & Kate shirts, commemorative tea towels — anything and everything royal-themed.

I definitely saw some wild outfits outside the Palace. A lot of Union Jacks and red, white, and blue face paint. Some of the local newspapers, like The Sun and Daily Mail, were selling flags on the side of the road.

Quite a few women were wearing tiaras and wedding dresses, but the cutest outfits belonged to the little girls who decided to dress as princesses.

I don't know where these masks came from, but they were everywhere.

I was equal parts amused and a bit terrified to turn around and suddenly see Prince William's face with eye holes staring back at me.

Several couples decided to don the masks and walk through the crowd together, holding hands, which was admittedly sweet.

As always, when a large group of people gather, you can expect to see some wild signs.

My favorite came from a girl in the crowd. She was holding up a sign for the then-single Prince Harry. A girl can dream, right?

Just across the park, I saw a huge sign hung up alongside the Ritz Hotel London, who also wanted to send their best wishes to the happy royal couple.

History has taught me that low-flying planes soaring over London is usually not a sign of something good, but the Royal Air Force flying over Buckingham Palace the day of the wedding was definitely awesome.

Half a dozen fighter jets and planes shot right over the city and below the typically gray English clouds. A Lancaster, a Spitfire, and a Hurricane were the particular plane models I captured in this photo above.

I did! I saw the Queen! And I saw Prince William! And Kate!

I will never be able to explain how this magically happened, but it did.

My friend and I were walking with the crowd alongside Green Park and the backside of Buckingham Palace when we reached a mass of people. A brigade of police bobbies on horses and a few bagpipers stood in front of us for maybe an hour before suddenly stepping aside. And that's when everyone started running.

Everyone was screaming. Flags were being thrown. Somehow, we pulled up right to the front of the Palace just as the royals walked out onto the balcony. It was pure madness.

I even got to see the iconic "balcony kiss" of Will and Kate, and the crowd consequently cheered.

An important thing to remember about the royal wedding is that it was one of the few positive events to happen in England of that year.

Earlier in 2011, riots erupted during a peaceful march about the rise of university tuition in downtown London, and a massive tsunami and earthquake rocked Japan the previous month. During a time of political unrest and global strife, nearly 2 billion people watched the royal wedding around the world.

And it was such a happy day. For once, people were gathering together to watch something wholesome — a wedding!

It felt a little bit like watching the Olympics — only your country wasn't involved, no one was competing, and, even if there were a competition, it was pretty clear that Kate Middleton had won.

It's not every day you get to walk up to Buckingham Palace while the Queen of England is actually out on the balcony waving at you and thousands of onlookers!

Even I couldn't help but wear my Union Jack scarf with a little pride that day, despite being from the little old colony known as the USA.

And of course, I still have my commemorative Will & Kate shirt to remember the wedding! This might be worth millions one day.

If you wish you could've crashed the royal wedding, please SHARE this with your family and friends on Facebook! There's always Harry's wedding to look forward to.