Royal Wedding: Heathrow Stopped Planes Flying Over Windsor For 15 Minutes

Quiet descended over Windsor Castle, just in time for Meghan Markle's arrival. But it didn't last long.
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For Britain's Windsor residents, the din of planes flying overhead on the approach to nearby Heathrow Airport is something they've grown used to.

But as the Berkshire town played host to Saturday's Royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the couple, guests and spectators enjoyed a period of quiet — albeit a short one.

Officials at the west London hub agreed to a 15-minute respite from planes flying overhead, HuffPost learned.

As part of the plan, national air traffic controllers cleared the airspace above Windsor and its ancient castle for a quarter of an hour.

The "no-fly" period began just as Markle approached the castle, timed to coincide with the "big reveal" of her wedding dress and her ascent up the flights of stairs into St George's Chapel.

But the closure of the airspace did not extend into the service, or later in the day during various receptions and the couple's carriage ride.

Windsor is 11km west of Heathrow.

A spokesperson for National Air Traffic Services (NATS), which runs U.K. airspace, said: "Heathrow Airport agreed to provide a 15 minute no-fly period over Windsor at 11.45[am] on the day of the royal wedding."