It had to be a Maltese woman to organise a street party in celebration of Friday's Royal Wedding in the town where she lives in the UK – and she is not even a Royalist or into celebrity culture.
Pia Vassallo wants to recreate for her three children the memory and brilliant atmosphere of Prince Charles and Lady Di's wedding in 1981.Pia Vassallo took the initiative to plan a community event on the big day not because she is a monarchist but because she still recalls the amazing atmosphere when she watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana with her family down by the sea at Buġibba 30 years ago.
"We are Buġibba people," says the woman, who has been living in the UK for 14 years, with pride.
"It was just brilliant and I wanted to recreate the memory for my children," Ms Vassallo says of the reason why she was the one to get the ball rolling in the town of Steyning, nestled in the heart of the Sussex downland, about 70 kilometres outside London.
She did not want the event go by without her three children – Katryna, 11, Saul, 7, and Isaac, 5 – experiencing the fun she still remembers and since, to her amazement, no one was organising anything in Steyning, she decided to go for it.
Street parties are being held everywhere to celebrate the anticipated nuptials of Prince William to Kate Middleton. To date, councils have received 5,500 requests for road closures. But permits and red tape to keep up the tradition and set up chairs and tables in the roads complicated matters, Ms Vassallo said.
So the Steyning bash is being organised at the local football ground instead, with the use of the clubhouse and a marquee in view of the unpredictable weather. She is hoping for a " glorious, English, spring day" but rain is being forecast, so Plan B is at hand.
Her street party is pretty much a " community affair", apart from a celebration of the Royal Wedding, and the idea is to create the spirit of a fun family outing and gather 150 adults and their children – " parents in our town have an average of three each".
Ms Vassallo is quick to credit another two women, almost strangers, from various walks of life , who have joined forces to get the party going and draw in different crowds.
In so doing, the atmosphere of the traditional street party , where neighbours meet up and get to know each other, is being kept alive.
The Royal Wedding seems to have some sort of a uniting power but Ms Vassallo is not sure it is due to its fairy tale touch. " It is about national identity. And, let's face it, everyone loves a wedding," she concedes.
"The truth is I don't even know much about Ms Middleton but I do know she is beautiful and looks like a princess!
"It's cool that Prince William, the second in line to the throne, is marrying a commoner. She may have attended posh schools but she seems very down to earth. Her entrepreneur mother started a business supplying party pieces..."
Speaking of which, the must have bunting is soon to be hung and t he bouncy castle and Union Jack plates , in keeping with the theme of what is intended to be a " kitsch" party, are all lined up.
The idea is to have crafts for the kids to create their own crowns and commemorative plates and a bride and groom dress-up competition – lest the royal theme be momentarily forgotten.
But the focal point of the Steyning Royal Wedding Party is the TV sets set up to watch it , although Ms Vassallo envisages only the women would be taking up their rightful thrones in front of the big screens – " my husband won't join" – while the children run wild in the grounds.
They may be analysing the future queen's dress and veil over a hog roast, a picnic and the quintessential English summer drink, Pimm's, but the whole do is not only about excesses and also has a philanthropic cause, aimed at raising funds for two local charities , The Point Foundation and Knowles Tooth, her family has embraced.
"I would not have bothered doing any of this if I lived in Malta. But here, I got into the spirit and I wanted to make it happen," Ms Vassallo adds.
"Somebody's marrying a prince," Saul ventures, when asked what all the fuss is about. And Katryna just wants to see Kate's dress. Their mother's noble efforts won't be in vain on the day.