Why one pub has banned any mention of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding

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A pub in Derby has made the news after it banned any mention of this weekend's royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

If any customer of the Alexandra Hotel mentions the royal wedding, they have to put money in a charity box.

Landlady Anna Dyson-Edge explains that they first came up with the idea for the last royal wedding, between Prince Harry's older brother William and Kate Middleton.

"We did it in 2011 for Kate and William's wedding, with the regulars saying they'd heard enough about it, everywhere's full of it, they can't get away from it," she says.

"Great idea to raise money for charity then!

"We stop all talk of it, and anyone who mentions it has to put money in the charity box. We raised about £400 last time."

The Alexandra Hotel (Photo: Google)

And with royal wedding fever dominating newspapers and TV, Mrs Dyson-Edge has managed to collect a decent amount so far.

"The charity box is feeling quite full, so we're doing quite well," she says. "But it's mainly from the passing trade - the regulars are a bit too good at it!"

The royal wedding can be a decisive subject depending on your views. But she says that she has yet to receive any backlash against the ban.

"The response been very good, to be honest," she says.

"We've not had anyone saying 'how dare you', and I've had phone calls this morning from three or four people all over the country, saying 'we've never been to Derby but it sounds great!'.

"It's all positive so far!"

Safe haven from Sat mornings event if you’re feeling overcome by it all! Even been live on BBC2 TV and Oz Radio this AM! pic.twitter.com/sUdKBJWxbZ

— Alexandra Pub Derby (@Alex_Pub_Derby) May 18, 2018

'Just a fun way to raise money'

The charity collection has personal significance for Mrs Dyson-Edge.

"It's for the Nightingale Macmillan Unit, which is the cancer unit at the Royal Derby Hospital. It's where my grandma passed away in 2011.

"That's why we're doing it really. It's just a fun way to raise money for charity."

With the royal wedding being broadcast across three TV channels, the Alexandra Hotel landlady confirms that neither it nor the FA Cup final will be available to watch in the pub.

"We haven't got any televisions, so it's a completely royal wedding-free pub.

"I'm off to Birmingham on Saturday funnily enough," she adds. "Only because I'd arranged to see Jeff Dunham the ventriloquist, before the date was announced.

"So I get out of it completely!"