It's not unheard of for couples to invite their favourite celebrities to their . While an accepted invite is extremely rare, the Internet is peppered with examples of surprise keepsakes and personalised letters that stars have sent in response. Frances and John Canning's luck changed in 2012, however, when their invitation to the late for their wedding was accepted.
The couple, from Prestwich, had booked Manchester Town Hall for their civil wedding, and were informed four weeks before their nuptials that they would be "sharing the building with a VIP" who was due to visit the premises on the same day. Upon learning the 'VIP' was actually the Queen, the Cannings sent a lighthearted letter to extending an invite to their special day, in the hopes the monarch would accept. On 24 March 2012, the royal did just that, taking a detour from her packed schedule of engagements to surprise the happy couple.
"When we had our ceremony, the staff asked us to wait for a moment in the corridor and just a few minutes later the Queen arrived. She knew both our names and apparently we had been especially added to her rota," the bride Frances told Manchester Evening News at the time. John, the groom, added: Speaking of the moment she met the Queen in her wedding dress, Frances added: "It was a bit scary but lovely.
She was so nice and gracious. She was beautiful, a really nice woman, and wished us all the best." The Queen looked radiant in a pastel pink coat and matching hat as she surprised the.
