In the shadow of the most historic church in London, There's no mistaking it -- the feeling of excitement in the air. The city is gleaming. Streets and tube stations have been spiffed up. Flags signal the upcoming event, as London gets ready for the eyes of the world.
"A little bit cleaner, just a good atmosphere, really buzzy, everyone enjoying themselves," said one Londoner.
"We just came here yesterday but we could already feel it, everyone's excited," said one tourist.
"It's a spine tingling atmosphere. Everybody's talking about the wedding. You see the cups, paraphernalia, it's very exciting," said Rob Liberace from Virginia. "I never thought I'd be excited about something like that. I'm pretty jazzed about the whole thing really."
We've run into some locals who seem a bit ho-hum about it.
"We're all excited, obviously, but I think everyone's more excited than we are at the moment," said Londoner Gary Darnley.
But the streets are packed with tourists, taking picture after picture, and brimming with the energy of the upcoming nuptials.
"They think it's pretty cool that we think it's cool back home," said Parks.
We ran into Sara Parks, visiting from Houston.
"They were pretty shocked to hear how excited Americans were about the wedding," she said. "I told them, it's a pretty big exciting historic event."
"Everybody is really excited," said another tourist.
Tourists aren't the only ones out in force. Security is moving into high alert. Five thousand police and military officers will be patrolling the streets, as perhaps a million and a half people converge on central London on the big day.
Throughout this week, we'll be giving you the inside scoop and meeting Houstonians here for the fun. Later today you'll meet tourists from around the world, and see the unforgettable memorabilia.
Ilona will continue her reporting from London all week long. Later this week, she'll be joined by Eyewitness News reporter Christine Dobbyn.
