The hot spot seemed the perfect place for Yuletide-loving royalists. But, as with the Eiffel Tower in Beijing and some of the most picturesque windmills in the Netherlands, there was much less to it than first met the eye ...

Name: Buckingham Palace Christmas market.

Age: Brand new this year.

Photographer Claire Beckett captured the soldiers and civilians who dress up as Afghans and Iraqis in military bases across America. They play everything from insurgents to shoppers in mocked-up firefights

Alex, 31, an academic, meets Rachel, 28, a university caseworker

What were you hoping for?
A good plotline, a fun evening and the chance of a connection.

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