Prince William heading back to work after wedding

LONDON—Prince William and his newlywed wife Catherine were expected to head back to their secluded island home on Monday following a secret weekend break in Britain.

The new duke and duchess of Cambridge were expected to return to Anglesey, northwest Wales, where William is going straight back to work this week as a search and rescue helicopter pilot with the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Their fairytale wedding on Friday was watched by an estimated one million people on the streets of London and two billion on television around the world.

“The chances are if he’s back at work on Tuesday he’ll be getting in to Anglesey on Monday evening,” a Ministry of Defense spokesman said.

“It will be a normal day at work for him after the wedding, nothing special planned.”

Like Friday, Monday was a public holiday in Britain, making for an extra-long weekend.

William’s colleagues at RAF Valley on Anglesey were in action on the wedding day, airlifting to hospital a 12-year-old boy who was rescued by a lifeboat crew after drifting a mile out to sea in a rubber ring.

The newlyweds spent the weekend at a private location, having flown out of Buckingham Palace by helicopter on Saturday.

The couple chose not to depart immediately for their honeymoon – details of which will not be announced in advance – though royal officials have said it will be abroad.

The newlyweds “planned the honeymoon together”, said a spokeswoman for Clarence House, the office of William’s father Prince Charles.

While William gets back to work in Wales, London is still abuzz with royal wedding fever.

Three-hour queues to get into the Westminster Abbey wedding venue stretched around the block, with well-wishers keen to get a glimpse before it is reconfigured back to normal.

Jane Thompson travelled from Windsor, west of London for a look around the historic church, which costs £16 ($27, 18-euro) to enter.

“I just thought it would be a lovely day to come up to town and hopefully to go in the abbey and see the flowers and feel part of everything,” she told AFP.

She thought the wedding gave Britain a boost.

“I thought it was beautiful. Every bit of it. Everything was perfect,” she said.

“From the words that were said in the abbey, you felt as if everybody was being included. We’re all part of the family!”

Carol Lowe and her daughter Rachel went to the abbey together.

“I would like to see the flowers because I am a florist so that’s an interest to me, but just to have the whole atmosphere of the abbey so soon after the wedding,” said Rachel.

“It will probably take a day just to get in,” she added.

Mary De’Ath, also in the queue, wanted to see the flowers.

The wedding was “absolutely stunning”, she said.

“She looked beautiful. A real credit the country and the royal family are very lucky to have her. She’s gorgeous and William looked gorgeous as well.”

While the couple’s honeymoon dates will not be released, they are due to visit Canada from June 30 to July 8 for their first official overseas visit.

The tour will include Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and the capital Ottawa.

Meanwhile a Clarence House spokeswoman denied a report that William would be posted to Britain’s remote Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean in September, saying there were “no plans” for such a deployment.