Why royal weddings capture Americans' imagination

WINDSOR, England -- A prince falling in love with a commoner - it's almost every young girl's dream. Now, in a real-life fairy tale, a prince has fallen in love with an American girl.

Four-year-old Ava, from Virginia, is a classic example of the young American little girl who at an early age begins to understand the dream of being a princess.

James McCourt, a royal expert, weighed in on this dream that Americans whole-heartedly buy into.

"There are little girls all around America with tiaras and things in their bedrooms that have grown up with stories of princes and princesses and living in castles," he explained.

Hollywood has produced countless versions of this fairy tale, and before that, it was part of our literary history.

"When a woman is a little girl, she's always read fairy tales -- her mother reads them to her -- and you dream of falling in love with a prince or having a prince fall in love with you and, I mean, this is a true-life fairy tale," said Donna Werner, who traveled from Connecticut to witness the royal wedding between Harry and Meghan.

McCourt added the extra bonus women get is that Markle is American, which makes it a big deal that she is marrying into a royal family.

That's why Ava and her mother, as well as other Americans, made their way to Windsor - so they can get a glimpse of a fairy tale come true.