"Never in its long and august history has the No 10 bus from Windsor to Staines (via Datchet and Wraysbury) received a welcome like this. Its passage secured by police escort, its progress followed by the world's media, the orange single-decker trundles regally up Windsor's high street, while onlookers crane to get a glimpse of the single pensioner conveyed within. It's not him, one man mutters, a little superfluously. It was that kind of a day on the banks of the Thames: lots of excitement over very little, a sideshow that felt largely peripheral to the pageantry unfolding within the sealed castle grounds."
"Of course, certain things did happen, albeit nothing of very much consequence in the grand scheme of things. People shouted things at each other. People argued over Gaza. People waved flags and brandished placards. A man in a Maga hat ate a pickled egg from the chip shop and grimaced a little. Television runners shuttled up and down Castle Hill ferrying flat whites to the on-screen talent. Drizzle drizzled."
"But mainly Windsor was a sea of people watching other people watch things, simultaneously reassured by their physical proximity to the main event and dismayed by their inability to influence it. We are ready for anything that will happen on or around the water, said Sgt Lyn Smith, head of a joint operations marine unit between Thames Valley and Hampshire police. As the presidential party neared Windsor, pretty much the only thing happening near the water was a swan taking a dump."
Windsor filled with spectators, media and police as the presidential party arrived for a state visit. A No 10 bus received an unusually exuberant reception while onlookers craned to glimpse the single pensioner aboard. Secured motorcades and police escorts controlled access and kept observers at a distance. Small-scale confrontations and protests occurred, including arguments over Gaza and flag-waving; a MAGA supporter grimaced after eating a pickled egg. Television crews ferried coffee to on-screen talent amid light drizzle. Police emphasized readiness for incidents on or around the water, though most activity remained symbolic and peripheral to the ceremony inside the castle grounds.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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