Kate Hawkesby: Will England go barmy for the Royal wedding? You bet

So yes, we've finally arrived, after 28 and half hours of travel. Crossing the world is no mean feat by the time you take into account plane delays, airport traffic, transit security clearance, and long haul flying.

That's before we hit the actual London traffic, which for a Saturday afternoon seemed worse than usual. "London's biggest march in years" read the newspaper headlines explaining the gridlock.

Tens of thousands marching through central London demanding fair wages. Central London was a blurry overcast sea of chaos. But even a rainy day and gridlocked streets couldn't dampen the mood. London is awash with festivity.

The Harry and Meghan merchandise is already on every street corner, every pub window is advertising their wedding day coverage: a pint and a 'cheers' to the Royal newlyweds will set you back six quid. Shop windows have messages of congrats, the Union Jack is flying proudly above the streets, the place is heaving with tourists.

It's not dissimilar to when we were here seven years ago for Wills and Kate's wedding. There is something about a royal wedding that absolutely drives the place bonkers. They love it. This wedding though, has the added magic of American celebrity.

There is intrigue and fascination and an awareness that this is being shared across the Atlantic. It's not as exclusively British as the last one - which gives it a sense of something a little bit extra.

Not to mention the sense of fun. Protocols will be broken, it'll be done their way, as opposed to the Royal way. If tabloid reports are to be believed, they'll be carving up the dance floor to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with somebody". Who saw that coming?!

The other thing Brits do well is betting.
Eager punters are waging their hard-earned pounds on everything from what colour the Queen's hat will be, to who'll be the wedding singer. (Current bids are picking a blue hat for the Queen, and either Elton John or Ed Sheeran for wedding singer.) And as for that merch - you can get everything from a Harry and Meghan tea set, keychain, tattoo, hat, T-shirt, swimsuit, cushion. The list is endless.

And if you're in any doubt as to the level of interest in this wedding Meghan Markle is generating 12 times more search traffic than the British PM and on peak days has received 42 per cent more searches than Brexit (and 32 per cent more than Jesus).

The wedding's expected to have more than 3 billion viewers worldwide, that's a billion more than Wills and Kate's wedding had. And with an economic boost for the British economy expected at around 550 million pounds - there's no doubt this is one huge show the Brits are very excited to put on.

And that was most evident today as we watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace: there are people and police everywhere, they are enthused and excited and buzzing already. Let's hope the sun comes out before Saturday.