It was an opportunity not be missed.

A verger could not resist cartwheeling on the red carpet in Westminster Abbey shortly after the future King of England married his bride. And now he has become an internet hit.

The ITV video footage of Ben Sheward, from Norbury, cartwheeling down the red carpeted aisle has been viewed by more than two- million people.

The verger, who admitted he was stunned by the amount of attention he had received, said he had been overcome by joy at the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton and did not expect his antics to be captured on TV.

Footage on Youtube shows him grinning as he cartwheels twice down the aisle as a few of the 1,900 guests linger outside the front doors of the historic abbey.

He told a national newspaper that he was a bit embarrassed by all the attention.

He said: “I’m a private man and never wanted all this attention. It was just a spontaneous act of the joy I felt after such a great day.

“The reaction from most people has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve had lots of people coming up to me to talk about it and telling me how it’s become a massive hit around the world.

“The phone hardly stopped ringing afterwards and I had lots of people come to my door to talk to me about it, but I’ve just been hoping it will all blow over.”

Mr Sheward has worked at the abbey for 10 years.

The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall told a blog website: “Ben expressed physically what we all experienced emotionally: delight at what had been a marvellous service and relief that it had all gone so well.”