Royal couple cut out 'a star attraction'
A life-size cutout of the soon-to-be wed Prince William and Catherine Middleton standing in the foyer of the Windsor Hotel may have been the most photographed attraction in Melbourne this week.
Windsor Hotel CEO David Perry estimates that 5,000 people have had their photo taken with the cardboard pair since they arrived a month ago.
"It just brings a smile to everyone's face," Mr Perry said.
Its appeal could be a metaphor for the wedding fever that has hit Melbourne and the world.
"I think the world is so thankful after such natural disasters and terrible things going on in the world this year that there's a good news story," he said.
A lovely end to the fairytale for the Windsor Hotel - given its name after a visit by the Prince of Wales in 1921 - would have to be a honeymoon visit by the royal couple.
"I can't confirm if we're holding any reservations for any Windsors in the next month but there are bets about Australia being the preferred destination for their honeymoon," Mr Perry said.
Visitors of the hotel on Friday morning seemed unable to walk past the royal couple without pulling out their cameras and taking a picture.
Dot Begley, at the hotel for lunch, said the royal romance seemed like the real thing.
"I think it's a true love story. They're well-suited," she said.
"You can tell by the way he looks at her and how she at him."
Her friend Jane Orford said a lot has changed since Princess Diana's time.
"She's been well initiated into the royal family and more aware of what she's in for than Diana was at 19," she said.
Helen Sutherland said she would tune in to the wedding to see what the new princess was wearing.
She said that she was in London when the prince's parents married.
"I couldn't actually see very much and it was very crowded," she recalled.
The Windsor's front bar will show the live telecast of the wedding on Friday night, while Federation Square in central Melbourne will also have the nuptials on its big screen.
