British expats offer Vegas-oriented ideas for royal couple

If all went as planned, Cindy Bailey boarded a plane Friday and departed Las Vegas for her native England to join her countrymen in celebrating the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Bailey admits that she hadn't thought of taking along a wedding gift that might convey to the happy couple the spirt of her adopted hometown. But we did, and came up with a few possibilities in advance of Friday's royal wedding.

■ A casino chip, of a suitably princely denomination and converted into British pounds, featuring the happy couple's image.

■ Arranging for a knighthood to be bestowed upon the couple by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman. (We don't have knighthoods, but since the term-limited Goodman will be leaving office, we figure he'd play along.)

■ Creating a cheering section for the royal newlyweds at the "Tournament of Kings" show at Excalibur, and providing them with actual utensils so they don't have to dine like the common folk.

And it was then that we realized we should ask some actual experts -- British expatriates who now live in Southern Nevada -- for some royal wedding gift-giving advice.

Bailey, for instance, who was born in England and moved to Las Vegas with her family at the age of 14. Bailey, while sharing a drink with a friend at the Crown & Anchor British Pub, 1350 E. Tropicana Ave. -- there's another Crown & Anchor at 4755 Spring Mountain Road -- says that if William and Kate were amenable to spending their honeymoon here, she'd first send them to the top of the Stratosphere for dinner.

Then, Bailey would treat the couple to a jaunt to the Grand Canyon to explore a natural wonder that -- no disrespect intended -- would kick the White Cliffs of Dover's bum any day of the week.

Bailey, 44, notes that, after moving here with her family, "it took me 24 years before I went back. Since then, I've been back four or five times."

Why head back for the wedding? "I just want to be a part of it all," she says.

Bailey admits, however, that she has friends in England who "say they aren't even watching it -- 'We hate it. We have nothing to do with it.' "

"I just think they're tired of hearing it day and night for the past year," Bailey's friend, Sinead Magee, offers. "They're just sick of it."

Magee, 38, is from Northern Ireland and has lived in Las Vegas for five years. She heads home twice a year to visit her family and will make her next trip home two weeks after the royal wedding.

Magee says residents of her country are "probably not as excited, about (the wedding), obviously as Londoners." But, she adds, despite years of unrest and political tension, "there's no ill will."

"I'll be watching," Magee says. "Any excuse for a celebration."

June LeMay, the Crown & Anchor's general manager, came from England to the United States in 1981 and to Las Vegas in 1990. What Las Vegas-type wedding present would she give the royal couple?

"I don't think they need anything, really, do they?" she responds.

But, after giving it some thought, LeMay suggests a dice clock, that most classic of Las Vegas gifts. It's something they certainly wouldn't receive from anybody else, and LeMay says it even can be a dual-time dice clock so the couple will always know the time both here and there.

If they ever do make it to Las Vegas, LeMay figures William and Kate would appreciate tickets to a show. "We'll send them to 'Love,' " she says, because the Cirque du Soleil production about The Beatles probably would make them feel right at home.

In the delicatessen business, celebrities are honored by having sandwiches named in their honor. A pastrami on rye may be a bit too common for William and Kate, but Mark McGarry of the Queen Victoria British Pub at the Riviera, 2901 Las Vegas Blvd. South, offers the couple a gustatory tribute via the introduction of the William and Kate Chopped Salad.

It's made of mixed greens, ham, turkey, egg, tomatoes and cucumber and tossed with dressing. It went onto the pub's menu last week at a price of $11.25.

"It's just very English," McGarry says of the salad's ingredients.

Jo Cattell, artistic director of the British National Theatre of America, would love it if wedding chapel-saturated Las Vegas could offer the royal couple the opportunity to wed at a "Westminster Abbey Chapel of Love," which, as Cattell envisions it, would include a look-alike royal family and a choir of Elvises serenading the couple down the aisle.

And, seeing as how Las Vegas is already packed with Cirque du Soleil productions, Cattell suggests that Las Vegas send the troupes' performers to London for prenuptial entertainment. As guests wait for the royal carriage to make its way through heavy London traffic, Cirque artists could, Cattell explains, delight the VIPs with back flips and tumbles.

Las Vegas also might offer one of our sunny days to meteorologically undependable London, Cattell suggests -- "Looks good in the photos" -- while the people who stage the yearly adult video convention here might "put together a special video to help the couple get in the mood for the honeymoon."

Cattell knows of British expats here who are planning parties for the big event.

"Granted, it's been a while since the last royal wedding," she says. "But I grew up in a little village, and the whole village kind of stopped and had a big village party for the last royal wedding."

"If there's a reason to have a party, why not have a party?" she says. "Whether you really care about the royals or not, it's a reason for us to gather and have a party."

A wedding reception requires a good host, and local pub mainstay John Windsor, who was born in the north of England, was moved to create one of his signature limericks as a gift to the royal couple:

"The soon-to-be princess called Kate,

when asked of her choice for a mate,

said, 'His hair's a bit thin,

but his body's quite trim,

and he has an enormous (dramatic pause) estate."

Windsor, who performs at 8:30 p.m. Saturdays and 6:30 p.m. Sundays at McMullan's Irish Pub, 4650 W. Tropicana Ave., and one Monday a month at Ri Ra Irish Pub at Mandalay Bay, says he's also thinking of sending the couple "a little note."

To wit: "Congratulations Kate and Bill. We are all awaiting the wedding. I'd like to send a gift of fitted sheets. Is it king- or queen-sized bedding?"

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.