London tossed restlessly through a cold, damp night. Hours before dawn, thousands packed the route between Buckingham Palace and the Abbey and strung along the five-mile return route. Chill showers drenched them. As they waited for daylight and a glimpse of history, they squirmed under umbrellas, mackintoshes, soggy blankets and newspapers. "Mad, that's what we are," said one woman to another. "But there's thousands like us."
Here and there, a hairdresser rushed to a stately town house for a 5 a.m. appointment to arrange a peeress' coiffure. Special trains shuttled underground from South Kensington to Westminster Station to take dignitaries to the...
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