Hunger-Striker Heading to London for Royal Wedding

April 22, 2011— -- A fairy tale has come true for a poor Mexican teenager who spent 16 days on a hunger strike hoping to wrangle an invitation to Britain's royal wedding. Touched by her attempt, a good Samaritan put up the airfare to London, where she hopes to at least watch the festivities from outside Westminster Abbey.

Estibalis Chavez, a 19-year-old studying for her high-school equivalency degree, drew public attention in February when she camped in a tent outside the British Embassy in Mexico City for more than two weeks. She hoped her perseverance would get her invited to the gala wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Chavez wasn't daunted by her lack of money or social connections.

"I saw this as making someone's dream come true," she said. "I didn't think it was impossible."

In a country with many more pressing problems — poverty, crime, drug violence — many people laughed at Chavez's hunger strike, calling her the "crazy lady of the embassy."

But a man who happened to walk by her lonely protest camp came forward to lend her $1,250 (about 15,000 pesos) for a flight to London.