My mum is British and all my family on my mum’s side lives in England. And yes, I call my mom “mum.” It’s what British people do. And I also call my grandmother “nan” and my grandfather “grand dad.”

I have been blessed to travel to jolly ole England many times, so many, I have lost count. My mum has been going back a lot lately; this is her second time back this year. In December, my 88 year old nan took a bad turn in her health. Not knowing when to say goodbye, my mum has been making up for the huge gap of ocean by flying home as much as possible to be close to her and her siblings.

But this time around, when she bought her ticket, she was surprised how so many tickets were quickly selling out on the plane. And then it hit her, it was the Royal Wedding and all the expats were flying back home to see it. So I just imagine my mum in the throngs of people, waving her British flag and caffeinated on PG Tips crying her eyes out. There is a strange patriotism when it comes to the Royal Family that all Brits have and when it comes to a commoner getting married, it’s like a fairy tale come true for so many.

I am glad my mum got to have something to brighten up her trip.

The following images were taken off my favorite photo resource for world news, MSNBC. I can just imagine my mum smooshed up against 100’s of people standing on her tip toes in this below shot taken by Oli Scarff, a British Press Photographer Association photographer.

And this is what everyone wants to see, the 1902 State Landau Carriage making it’s way to Buckingham Palace. This great bird’s eye view was taken by Damien Meyer, another BPPA photographer.

I wonder if they made this day a national holiday, considering every Brit was on the streets watching? And this lost shot was photographed by the BPPA photographer John Giles.