OXFORDSHIRE’S very own Kate and William are hoping to pick up a few tips from today’s Royal Wedding.

Like the Royal couple, they broke up and endured a temporary split before love brought them back together.

Katie Aldridge, 29, and William Brown, 26, of Blackwater Way, Ladygrove, are getting married on June 4 at St Mary’s Church, Pembridge, Herefordshire.

Miss Aldridge, a physiotherapist, met her fiancé on Internet dating website match.com three years ago and reckons she has met the perfect match.

She said: “William is a stock car racing fanatic and he is out racing most weekends so I’m already a stock car racing widow.

“I’m very concerned for his safety but if he comes home with bumps and scrapes then I can fix him.

“I will be preparing for our own wedding by watching the Royal Wedding celebrations.

“I know it will make our own preparations seem much less elaborate but it does make everything seem much more exciting.

“I call us the Kate and Will of Didcot and like them we did split up for several months, but we got back together because we missed each other so much and realised we were meant for each other.”

The couple’s first date was at Maxwell’s in Oxford in January 2008 and they got engaged on September 11 last year at a stock car race meeting in Birmingham.

Mr Brown, an electrician, said: “I was pretty nervous about proposing. The hardest part was trying to get through the race beforehand without damaging myself.”

Like Kate Middleton, Miss Aldridge is also planning to wear a tiara for her wedding day, but said it would be bad luck to give too much away about her dress.

She added: “It says Kate and Will on our wedding invitations and some people said ‘Is this a joke?’ when we handed them out.

“I’ll be watching the Royal Wedding at a garden party in Culham and I’m really looking forward to it. I think Kate and Will are very well suited and will have a long and happy future together.

“I feel for Kate with all her wedding preparations and I’m struggling with the idea of becoming Mrs Brown but fancy being a princess!

“I think both Will and I are nervous about mucking up our vows or tripping over each other on the first dance in front of 200 guests, but I feel sorry for Will and Kate because millions of people watching them.

“Our cake topper may well involve a throne and crown, although Will is pushing for a racing car to go on the top.”

Katie and William will honeymoon in Jamaica.

  • KATE may have her glass carriage in London, but that is nothing compared to an Arriva 280 bus.

    That’s the view of another Middleton sharing her wedding day with her more famous namesake today.

    Sandra Reed, 51, whose maiden name was Middleton, has opted to travel to and from Oxford Register Office in Tidmarsh Lane.

    With groom-to-be Chris Wignall, 49, the pair will leave their home in Thame and travel into the city on the 280 bus.

    They will watch the Royal Wedding on television in the Duke’s Cut pub before crossing the road and getting married.

    After a quick drinks party in the pub, they will be heading home on the bus.

    Witney couple Peter Magnuson, 33, and Gemma Dixon, 25, will also have unconventional aspects to their wedding ceremony today.

    Miss Dixon’s 10-year-old lurcher Maxwell will bear the specially-made ring on a cushion attached to his back. He will walk down the aisle behind his owner at Caswell House at Curbridge near Brize Norton.

    Rhianna Tucker, 22, and Arron Thomas, 30, both from Abingdon, will wed at Eynsham Hall in North Leigh today.

    Miss Tucker, a solicitor, said: “I don’t think the Royal Wedding means as much to us as to the older generation, but when the Queen has celebrated her wedding anniversary, she has invited other couples who got married the same day to Buckingham Palace. Maybe one day in the future, we will get the invitation.”