Locals fuss over royal wedding at Woodland Hills pub

Bleary-eyed and teary-eyed, San Fernando Valley residents joined with an estimated 2 billion royal watchers around the world in celebrating Friday's nuptials of Prince William and his longtime girlfriend, Kate Middleton.

At the White Harte Pub in Woodland Hills, dozens of guests ate tea sandwiches, sipped champagne and feasted on strawberry shortcake decorated with William and Kate's initials.

Donning a hat she wore in 2005 when she met Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, Audrey Rose took in every detail - the dress, the carriages, the hats - on a big-screen TV.

"It's just a beautiful end to Princess Diana's life," said Rose, 62, referring to Prince William's mother who died in a car accident in 1997. "I just wish a lot of happiness for her children.

"This is the start of it," she said as she teared up.

Sporting a black fascinator headpiece crafted by her mother and a new dress, Anita Hupalo looked like she could have been one of the 1,900 wedding guests at Westminster Abbey.

"I feel a little royal, absolutely," Anita Hupalo said with a smile.

Her mother, Gail, reached into the closet for a black hat that didn't disappoint.

"It has been to a couple of functions," said Gail Hupalo, 71. "I dusted it off."

Although Anita, 39, took Friday off from her job as a music industry executive, Gail wasn't as lucky. Her shift started at 1 p.m. today in the floral department at Gelson's in Northridge.

But, she wasn't worried about catching up on sleep when she left the White Harte Pub around 5 a.m.

"I want to go somewhere for breakfast," she said.

Patrons at the White Harte were clearly in the wedding party mood, although the guy in the Beefeater costume wasn't particularly chatty.

Party-goers smiled when Prince Harry sneaked a peek at his future sister-in-law as she walked down the aisle, then muttered a comment to his older brother.

A group of young ladies from Great Britain stood up and sang "God Save the Queen" with gusto, and guests applauded when William put the ring on his bride's finger.

Aleksandra Kosmala, a waitress at the White Harte, enjoyed the wedding with her coworkers at the bar, even though she was off-duty.

She wasn't born when Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981, so she wanted to make sure to see this royal wedding.

"I do feel like they are really in love," said Kosmala, 26. "It's a happy moment."

Kosmala sported a feathered turquoise hat she bought six years ago at Urban Outfitters, but had never worn. Now, it's the William and Katherine hat.

"I wanted to wear it on Halloween, but it wasn't right," said Kosmala, of Encino. "This is perfect."

Even visitors from Great Britain felt right at home at the Ventura Boulevard pub.

"We didn't get our invites to the real thing in time," joked Ellie Worthington, 31, in ministry school in Redding. "This is the next-best thing."

They took photographs of each other standing next to a big-screen TV while it was beaming images of the wedding, marveled at the large crowds in London and extolled the loveliness of their future queen.

During the last two weeks, the mix of childhood and university friends traveled from San Francisco to Los Angeles, sightseeing along the way.

On Thursday, Helen McKeever, 30, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, searched online for local venues to watch the royal wedding, and found the party at the White Harte.

"I think we probably had a better experience over here," said Kerry Mills, 31, of London.

They left before the couple`s kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace so they could get some sleep and do some sight-seeing before their flight back to London tonight.

Sarah Gonzalez said her mother told her stories about watching Princess Diana`s wedding so she wanted to see this one.

"Everything`s better when it is live," the 21-year-old said. "Nothing is scripted. You get to see everything as it comes - genuinely."

She and her friend, Yvette Gonzalez, stayed to watch William and Kate's first public kiss as husband and wife.

"It looks like the kiss cam at Dodger Stadium," Yvette Gonzalez said.

As she walked out the pub's front gate just before 6 a.m., Yvette Gonzalez summed up the moment perfectly.

"It was a fairy-tale wedding," she said. "She was a natural princess."

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