WINDSOR, England (AP) - The Latest on royal wedding preparations (all times local):

12:45 p.m.

Royal wedding fans camped outside Windsor Castle have expressed happy surprise that Prince Charles plans to walk Meghan Markle down the aisle during her marriage to Prince Harry.

The fans decked out in the national colors of Britain and the United States had expected Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, to do it.

Roseline Morris, a 35-year-old from Basildon, points out that Charles doesn't have a daughter. "So he's never going to get the chance to walk a daughter down the aisle, so this will be nice for him as well." she says. "I imagine he'll be feeling very proud."

Sylvia Horn, 61, from Nashville, calls the decision "wonderful."

She adds that "I fully approve since Charles is going to be her father-in-law."

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11 a.m.

Buckingham Palace says the Duke of Edinburgh will attend the royal wedding - just a few weeks after undergoing a hip replacement operation.

The palace confirmed Friday that Prince Philip would attend the wedding Saturday between American actress Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.

The 96-year-old Philip has largely retired from public duties and it had not been clear whether he would be feeling well enough to attend.

Queen Elizabeth II's husband made his first public appearance since the April 13 surgery at the Royal Windsor Horse Show earlier this month.

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10:05 a.m.

Kensington Palace says Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle at the royal wedding.

The father of groom Prince Harry stepped in after Markle's dad fell ill days before the wedding and was unable to fly to Britain.

Markle appealed for people to give Thomas Markle "the space he needs to focus on his health" amid reports he had had a heart procedure.

The palace said Friday that Markle's future father-in-law, the heir to the British throne, would walk Markle down the aisle at St. George's Chapel in Windsor on Saturday. The palace says he "is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to the Royal Family in this way."

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9:55 a.m.

As Queen Elizabeth II prepares to meet Meghan Markle's mother before the actress' wedding to Prince Harry, one commoner who married into the family is offering a bit of advice: Just relax.

Mike Tindall, the former captain of the England rugby team, says the royal family welcomed him with open arms when he married the queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips in 2011.

Tindall told ITV that family members can spot it easily when people are nervous.

He says they will "go straight over and take away all of that tension straight out of the room, and that's what they are amazing at. Then suddenly you're in the family and they welcome you."

Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, is set to meet the queen Friday.

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9:10 a.m.

The big day is nearly here.

Well-wishers are camped out, deliveries are arriving and a large security operation is in place a day before the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

In a break from the care with which royal events are normally planned, some of the wedding details are still being worked out. Markle has yet to reveal who will accompany her down the aisle, after her father decided not to attend for health reasons.

The bookies suggest Markle's mother may have the honor, but there also been speculation that one of her closest friends, Soho House director Markus Anderson, could step in to replace Thomas Markle, a reclusive former TV lighting director who touched off a scandal after allegedly being caught staging photographs with the paparazzi.

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