British Prime Minister Theresa May, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won鈥檛 be attending the highly anticipated royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle next month, but one lucky youth leader from the U.K. will be.
Saeed Atcha, 21, is among the 1,200 members of the public who have been invited to attend the event on the grounds of Windsor Castle on May 19. Atcha, a community leader and the CEO of Xplode Magazine, told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning he was 鈥渧ery, very shocked鈥� when he received his invitation in the mail a couple of days ago.
鈥淭o know that you鈥檝e been sort of noticed on that level is just phenomenal. I mean, it was complete shock,鈥� Atcha said during a phone interview from Bolton, U.K. on Wednesday. 鈥淚 had to read the letter two or three times and then very quickly the shock turned into honour.鈥�
On Tuesday, the Royal Family announced that an 鈥渙fficial list of political leaders鈥� was not required and that only friends and family would be invited to the wedding.
Kensington Palace officials also named some of the invitees from the public who will be allowed to watch the procession from the castle grounds. Those invitees come from a variety of backgrounds and were nominated by the regional lord lieutenant offices as per the couple鈥檚 wishes.
Atcha said he鈥檚 an active member of his community through his work with , one of the Prince of Wales鈥� charities, and through the Xplode Magazine he created when he was 15 years old in order to help young people develop employability skills.
鈥淲hen I was in my final year of high school I was annoyed with the negative press coverage towards young people and I wanted to do something about it so I thought, by setting up a magazine and being part of the press, not only are we teaching young people media skills, but also we鈥檙e giving them a platform to showcase their voice on topics that matter to them,鈥� he explained.
As for whom the young leader is planning to bring as his "plus one" to the big day?
鈥淚 was thinking that the prime minister鈥檚 [Theresa May] not got an invite so maybe she could be my 'plus one,'鈥� he said with a chuckle.
