Royal watchers hoping to revel in 2011's second round of majestic nuptials may be disappointed as the Queen's
eldest granddaughter, Zara Phillips, prepares to wed her rugby-playing beau.
More than seven years after they were introduced at a Sydney bar, Zara will become Mrs Tindall, wife of hulking English rugby representative Mike Tindall, 32, at a ceremony in Edinburgh on Saturday.
Friends of 13th-in-line-to-the-throne and equestrian champion Zara - who shuns royal airs and graces in preference for a quiet and normal life - say she doesn't know why anyone
would be interested in her wedding.
would be interested in her wedding.
Perhaps it's the pre-wedding party for 150 guests aboard the former royal yacht Britannia that's attracting
Alternatively, the wedding itself, to be attended by 300 guests, including a raft of front row royalty such as the Queen and Prince Philip and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, could be a crowd clincher.
Of course, Tindall has also invited England's top rugby brass, with best man and teammate Iain Balshaw heading to Edinburgh's historic Canongate Kirk for the 3pm (midnight AEST Saturday) ceremony along with players Jonny Wilkinson, Martin Johnson, Mike Catt and Will Greenwood.
There's speculation that 30-year-old Zara, whose mother Princess Anne decided she would not take the "princess" title, will wear a tiara from the Queen's collection to complement her designer gown on the day she has a wedding reception at granny's Scottish home, the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Despite the glamorous elements, Saturday's private event is set to be a far cry from April's global spectacular when Prince William married Catherine Middleton in front of an estimated worldwide audience of two billion.
"At the end of the day, Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall are sports personalities," police operations commander for the event, Superintendent Ivor Marshall told British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.
He said there "is a very restricted space" on Edinburgh's Royal Mile for spectators to catch a glimpse of the bridal party, who will travel to the church by car.
The Tindall family seem to be the sole average element to this weekend's wedding, with mother-of-the-groom Linda Tindall, a 63-year-old social worker, thrilled about her son's marriage to "lovely girl" Zara.
"Many a time he has said if she worked at (supermarket) Tesco at the checkout it would not matter. It's about her and the sort of person she is," Mrs Tindall told The Daily Star newspaper.
And Zara is the sort of person who happily takes her husband's name, it seems.
"I'm looking forward to becoming Mrs Tindall," she said recently.
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