One major story can be enough to test the resourcefulness of any TIME bureau. But in the past four weeks TIME'S London bureau has had to cope with the formidable challenge of covering two simultaneous headline developments: the accelerating preparations for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer and the sudden outbreak of rioting in England's industrial cities. The task required an ability to change mood, location and even clothes at a moment's notice. Within hours, Correspondent James Shepherd shifted from tracking rioters in London neighborhoods to chatting amiably with Prince Charles' tailor for this week's cover story on the royal wedding. TIME'S Ken Banta, who had just moved to London after finishing a Rhodes scholarship at Oxford, found himself on the burning streets of Liverpool. London Bureau Chief Bonnie Angelo, who was on special assignment in New York City, brought with her a bulging notebook from which she reported for the cover, all the while closely following the violence back in Britain.

Like the country, the bureau resorted to extraordinary measures. A hotel room was rented across the street from the London Time-Life Building for catnaps between assignments. New Delhi Bureau Chief Marcia Gauger was abruptly recruited to lend a hand when she stopped off en route from New York to India. Brenda Draper, London bureau picture researcher, worked with a variety of official British photographers and freelancers to obtain a steady flow of pictures for both stories. Correspondent Mary Cronin turned from organizing the wedding coverage on a master bulletin board to charting the causes of the social unrest. Correspondent Frank Melville, who has observed the British scene for 20 years, noted that "the ferocity of the street fighting seemed to challenge the very concept of 'the Queen's peace,' but undoubtedly the great majority of the British people will draw from the wedding a sense of pride and unity at a critical moment in their country's history."

Meanwhile the bureau had affirmed its own sense of pride and unity, as Angelo found when she rejoined her team last week. Says Angelo: "The adrenaline was flowing like champagne at the royal wedding breakfast. If it's a good story--whether riots or romance--no one wants to leave the action."

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