The one guest who turned down invitation to William and Kate's wedding

It's not every day that you get invited to the wedding of the future monarch couple of Britain, so hardly anyone missed Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding for any other commitments. However, there was one guest who turned down their invitation, and it was for the most dutiful reason.

Garrison Sergeant Major Bill Mott was in-charge of organising, choreographing, and overseeing all major state ceremonial parades including Queen Elizabeth II's birthday celebrations "Trooping the Colour" for a long time. He enjoyed a close working relationship with the royal household as well as the British royal family due to his role, and thus was invited to attend the royal wedding at Westminister Abbey on April 29, 2011.

However, when his commanding officer told him he would need to work on the day of the wedding as well, he passed on his invitation to his sister Sarah-Jayne Scott and son Jonathan. Instead, he spent the day overseeing the organisation of hundreds of soldiers, aircrew, and naval staff as they lined the streets to hold a parade for the newly-wed couple and the rest of the royal family for their return to the palace.

"My job was to make sure things ran smoothly," Mott recalls to People magazine about the day.

The 60-year-old revealed that he woke up at "dark o'clock" that day to mark the ground for the guard of honor and the street liners. He recalled: "Even at 4 a.m., there were people already waving their flags. They were thrilled to bits that he was getting married to the woman of his dreams. There was that euphoria. It was just a really lovely atmosphere — no negative vibes whatsoever."

Mott went on to walk the route from Wellington Barracks to Westminster Abbey to make sure the street was marked with hardwearing chalk-based in wax so that the parade company knew their positions, and that no road furniture or traffic furniture was going to come in their way.

"I would even check the flags on the mall. Occasionally, I might see a Union Flag upside down," Mott recounted. Even though he could not be inside the Abbey for the wedding, he was glad his family was able to enjoy the moment.

"I was skipping along the Mall to get things done knowing that I had family in there enjoying themselves. It was as rewarding because I know that I had two people that I love dearly that were there and felt this magical moment of being involved in something so important," Mott said.