THE founder of a Bolton youth magazine was almost within touching distance of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at their wedding.

Saeed Atcha was one of 2,640 specially invited members of the public to attend the Royal Wedding yesterday.

Saeed, attended the event in Windsor with his cousin, Aishah Atcha, aged 20.

Both enjoyed the day and were even a little starstruck by the big names they saw.

Saeed was invited by the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, who supported his work at Xplode Magazine.

He said afterwards: "I'm ecstatic. I can't even get the words out.

"It was really, really good, it's been a really surreal experience.

"The fact they have invited people that had served their communities was magnificent and is a real statement.

"When we heard the national anthem towards the end it was really wonderful. Everyone had their picnics, and we heard the fanfare and I stood up and heard that, it made me really proud to be British. It was a wonderful day."

Saeed and his cousin were invited into the grounds of Windsor Castle and sat with other guests for a picnic outside the chapel and could hear the service via a PA system.

Despite grumblings from some before the wedding that guests would not be provided with food and were instead invited to bring their own picnics, Saeed said they did receive a bag of Harry and Meghan treats.

He said: "I didn't take anything with me. I thought it's not that long, I'm not going to be eating and they gave us a goody bag with some shortbread, chocolate and a fridge magnet and a couple of keepsakes. And the bag is a canvas tote bag. Everything has Harry and Meghan on it."

Saeed got into the grounds at about 9am, with plenty of time to spare for the ceremony, which started at noon.

He said: "Initially it said 8am and the carpark would be open from 4am, but I did a bit of Google mapping and it wasn't too far from the carpark so we got there about 9am and got through fine. I wasn't too early.

"I enjoyed seeing members of the Royal family when they passed through the area we were in and the celebrities. I was doing some celeb spotting."

There were a host of celebrities invited to the wedding including the Beckhams, Carey Mulligan and her husband, Marcus Mumford, and Oprah Winfrey.

Saeed said he'd caught glimpses of George and Amal Clooney, Idris Elba and James Cordon, who received a huge cheer from the crowd.

He added: "It was a touching ceremony and quite moving that members of the public were there.

"We were to the left of the chapel where the Royal family were coming in. There were smiles and flags everywhere. It was the picture definition of a Royal Wedding."

After the procession had left the chapel, guests were allowed to wander around the grounds of the castle and Saeed made a beeline for the ice cream tent.

Reflecting on the day's events he said: "Success is an aspirational thing and Meghan has worked extremely hard over her career and now she's pulling away in a horse-drawn carriage. It's the kind of thing you do dream of and why shouldn't you?"