THE royal wedding meant people across the region had a party, but one Newport teenager was lucky enough to secure an invite to the event. 

Alexander Willis was invited to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle because of his work as a Member of Youth Parliament.

The 16-year-old, who took his mum as his guest, said: "It was a huge privilege to be there, and I was immensely proud of being recognised for my work in the local community."

It was an early start for Mr Willis and his mother Nicola who arrived in Windsor the night before. 

He said: "We woke up at 5am and we arrived at the castle just before 7am.

"We needed to leave ample time for security and so got into the castle by about 8:20am. The security was very strict, all airport style security, there was no metal cutlery allowed for our picnics.

"We were sitting directly opposite the main entrance in which all the Royals used to go in and out of the Chapel. We had a really great spot and saw the Queen a couple of times."

He added: "I saw the Meghan Markle arrive in the car, she was smiling and waving at everyone going past.

"The highlight of the day was definitely seeing the Queen in person. I've only seen her on the TV so it was an unforgettable moment.

"We stayed in Windsor afterwards to soak it all up. Even after the wedding there were still crowds of excited people."

Gwent Police's Area Support West police officers were also in Windsor helping with security and protection for the royal wedding.

They were some of the 3,000 officers deployed in Windsor in the biggest operation ever conducted by the Thames Valley force.