In March 2012, John and Frances Canning were preparing for what was supposed to be one of the happiest and most ordinary days of their lives: their wedding day.
They had chosen Manchester Town Hall as the place where they would exchange their vows. They had made their plans, booked the venue, and were looking forward to celebrating with their family and friends.
There was just one unusual detail.
Queen Elizabeth II was going to be in the same building on the same day.
The couple knew that Her Majesty was scheduled to visit Manchester as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour. And instead of changing their wedding plans, John Canning decided to do something that was meant to be little more than a joke.
He invited the Queen to their wedding.
He knew there was almost no chance she would actually come.
After all, this was the Queen of the United Kingdom. She had an extraordinary schedule, a huge amount of security surrounding her movements, and official duties that were planned months in advance.
A private couple from Greater Manchester could hardly expect the monarch to simply drop everything and attend their wedding.
So John wrote to Buckingham Palace with a light-hearted invitation.
He reportedly told the Queen that if she had a few minutes free, she was welcome to come over and join them.
It was cheeky. It was playful. And, as John later explained, it was never meant to be taken too seriously.
Then a letter arrived.
And suddenly, the joke felt a little more real.
It Started With a Royal Visit
To understand why the story became so extraordinary, it helps to look at what was happening in Britain at the time.
The year was 2012, and Queen Elizabeth II was celebrating her Diamond Jubilee — the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne.
It was a major national occasion.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were scheduled to travel around the United Kingdom throughout the year, visiting communities and taking part in events connected with the Jubilee celebrations.
The official Royal Family announcement listed Manchester and Salford as one of the Queen's regional visits on March 23, 2012.
The visit was not a casual trip.
The Queen and Prince Philip had a busy schedule in Manchester and Salford, including official engagements connected with hospitals, civic events and the new BBC facilities at MediaCityUK. They were also due to attend a lunch at Manchester Town Hall.
And that was where the Cannings' wedding came into the story.
John and Frances had already booked Manchester Town Hall for their wedding.
They had not selected the date because of the Queen.
They had not arranged their ceremony as part of the Jubilee celebrations.
Their wedding simply happened to fall on the same day that the Queen was due to visit the building.
According to Manchester City Council, the couple's wedding on March 24, 2012, became one of the memorable moments in the history of the Town Hall because it coincided with Queen Elizabeth II's Jubilee visit, during which she met the newlyweds and congratulated them.
That coincidence alone would have made their wedding unusual.
But John decided to take it one step further.
“Why Don't We Invite Her?”
At some point before the wedding, the couple learned that a very important visitor would be at the Town Hall on their wedding day.
Initially, they did not know exactly who the visitor was.
Security arrangements surrounding royal visits meant that information was naturally limited.
Eventually, they learned the identity of the VIP.
It was the Queen.
For most people, the obvious reaction might have been to laugh, take a photograph of the building, and tell friends that they were getting married on the same day as the monarch's visit.
John Canning had another idea.
He would invite her.
In later accounts of the story, John described the decision as a light-hearted or slightly “mad” moment.
He wrote to Buckingham Palace and invited the Queen to join them.
According to an account later featured by PBS, John recalled telling Frances that he was going to invite the Queen and writing to her in a deliberately tongue-in-cheek manner. He even suggested that if she had five minutes available, she could “knock on next door.”
There was no expectation that the Queen would actually attend.
It was simply a funny story they could tell.
Imagine being able to say:
“We invited the Queen to our wedding.”
Even if she never came, the invitation itself would make for a great memory.
Then Buckingham Palace responded.
A Letter From Buckingham Palace
When the response arrived, the couple were surprised.
They had actually received a reply.
It was not a personal handwritten note from the Queen, nor was it a confirmation that she would be attending.
Instead, a lady-in-waiting wrote to John on the Queen's behalf, thanking him for his kind message and extending good wishes on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee.
Contemporary ITV reporting confirmed that the couple received a response from Buckingham Palace after sending their playful invitation, and that they did not expect anything more to come from it.
For John and Frances, that was probably the end of the story.
They had invited the Queen.
The Palace had acknowledged the invitation.
The Queen had effectively sent them her best wishes.
That alone was extraordinary.
They could get on with their wedding.
Or so they thought.
The Wedding Day Arrived
March 23, 2012, arrived.
Manchester was buzzing because of the royal visit.
The Queen and Prince Philip were in the city as part of their Diamond Jubilee tour. Crowds had gathered, cameras were present, and the atmosphere around Manchester Town Hall was very different from that of an ordinary Friday.
And somewhere inside the building, John and Frances were getting married.
For the couple, however, this was still their wedding day.
There were vows to exchange.
There were photographs to take.
There were family members and friends waiting to celebrate.
According to contemporary reports, the couple had around 40 guests.
Frances, who was 44 at the time, was preparing to become a bride.
John, 48, was preparing to become a husband.
They had no reason to believe that the most famous person in the building was about to become part of their wedding album.
The ceremony went ahead.
And then something happened that neither of them expected.
“Please Wait in the Corridor”
After they had exchanged their vows, staff asked the newlyweds to wait for a moment.
It was an unusual request.
They were told to remain in the corridor.
They waited.
And then, only a few minutes later, the Queen appeared.