LOCAL stories generally played second fiddle to a wedding in London this week in 1981.

As it was the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, though, nobody seemed to mind.

“The Greatest Show on Earth,” said the headline of our Royal Wedding Souvenir Special, printed hours after the ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday, July 29.

We wrote: “Prince and Princess of Wales.

“Prince Charles today slipped a gold ring on the wedding finger of his fairy tale princess, Lady Diana.

“It was the musical and emotional experience of a lifetime that the Prince had hoped for.

“The Prince and lady Diana, breathtaking in a dress of frills, flounces, sequins, pearls and crinoline, made their vows before the Archbishop of Canterbury in St Paul’s Cathedral.”

The story described the exchange of vows, when the nervous bride referred to her husband as called her husband Philip Charles Arthur George by mistake.

We added: “The historic ceremony was watched by the biggest royal wedding ‘congregation’ in history – about 650m TV viewers.

“They saw the greatest of public occasions become, for a few moments, a deep, solemn and personal commitment of vows in front of one of the largest gatherings of crowned heads, world statesmen and their representatives ever seen in St Paul’s.”

On the day before the ceremony we ran another souvenir pullout called The Wedding of the Year, which featured a page of photographs of Lady Diana as a baby, child and young teenager.

Various local companies placed adverts, and some managed a royal wedding theme.

The Prince of Wales pub in Wootton Bassett invited people to be among the first 50 customers on the big day, all of whom would receive a free drink and snack.

Furniture store Normans in the Brunel Plaza ran an advert saying: “Not invited? Then why not celebrate with us and take advantage of our Crazy Clearance Sale starting on Friday, 31st July.”

Souvenirs had been on sale for months and ranged from counterfeit Rubik’s Cubes showing the faces of happy couple to an assortment of plates and ornaments of varying quality.

Unsurprisingly Deacon and Son in Old Town took a far more tasteful approach, offering a limited edition of 50 silver desk sets at £550.

Also unsurprisingly, the wedding dominated much of our local news coverage. Adver photographers were dispatched to capture countless street parties for posterity. There was also a party in the children’s ward at Princess Margaret Hospital, where the surprise guests were members of historical re-enactment group The Sealed Knot.

At a party in Greenmeadow a little boy and girl, Darren and Emma Smith, dressed as a bride and groom in honour of the couple.

At the Crest Hotel in Swindon’s Oxford Road, staff handed out champagne to go with guests’ breakfast.

Those staying at the hotel included American visitors Carol Ivy and Judy Akers from Illinois, who found themselves roped into a Swindon Advertiser photo opportunity, complete with Union Jack hats.

One Swindon man slightly changed history – not to mention the landscape at Highgrove House.

We explained: “Prince Charles and Lady Diana will be getting a telegram from the people of Thamesdown after all – thanks to garage owner Roger Threlfall.

“Roger, owner of Fleming Way Garage and Headlands Service Station, has fought a one-man campaign against Thamesdown Council’s decision not to send the royal couple a present.

“And his customers and staff have backed him up to the tune of £130.52.

“That’s how much they have raised toward the cost of a tree to be planted in the grounds of Highgrove House. A telegram and a letter of greetings were sent with the cheque yesterday.

“And Roger has kept copies of the letter and telegram for display at his garages. He’s also had letters of support from old age pensioners,

He said: ‘I’m delighted with the response, and I’d like to thank all our contributors.’”

We managed to find space for some stories unrelated to the wedding, one of which was about a Blunsdon businessman.

“High flier Dudley Pattison,” we said, “ has just launched a new line of business – making planes.

“He is one of four people in Britain allowed to build a new type of powered hang glider designed in America.

“But air ace Dudley, 37, has got his priorities right. Then first machine is for himself. The others will go on sale at a cool £2,600.

“The Rotec micro aircraft soars above other powered gliders because it has proper plane controls.”

We also wrote about a young local actress, 14-year-old Lisa East, who had landed a role in BBC school saga Grange Hill.

Lisa, of Greenhill Road in Moredon, was due to start filming the following month before returning to her real school, Hreod Burna.

The young actress, whose CV already included television work, went on to appear for two years as Christine Everson.