How To Watch The Royal Wedding In The United States: What Stations Will Have Coverage?
The royal wedding is upon us and while us commoners aren’t invited to attend the happy nuptials in person, we can still tune into all of the pomp and circumstance on TV.
This isn’t the first time us Yanks have been gifted a royal wedding. Prince William and Kate Middleton were wed at Westminster Abbey in 2011 to the same kind of fanfare and mania that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s impending vows are causing. But when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle get hitched, things will be a little different.
First, while his brother and sister-in-law celebrated their union in the storied Westminster Abbey, where plenty of kings and queens have been wed before, Prince Harry will marry Markle on the grounds of Windsor Castle, in the church that he was christened in. Both the prince and the actress have said they want to incorporate ways to include the public in their big day so of course, there will be plenty of ways to share in their joy for those across the pond.
Most major news outlets and networks will be airing coverage of the royal wedding in the States while cord cutters will also be able to stream the event online. The ceremony is scheduled to kick off at noon in London, 7 a.m. EST in the United States, but plenty of stations have coverage planned before then.
Here’s a breakdown of where and when the best royal wedding coverage will air.
BBC America
This is the authentic way to view the royal celebration. BBC America will be simulcasting BBC One’s coverage of the event beginning at 4 a.m. EST. The coverage is how most Britains will be watching the nuptials and expect to see plenty of native insight into the customs and traditions of the royals as the day unfolds.
CBS
CBS’ correspondent’s team is enlisting the help of royal researcher Tina Brown to document the big day. Brown wrote The Diana Chronicles, a book about the life and death of Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales. She covered the marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles for NBC in 1986 and should offer some juicy tidbits to viewers. She’ll join Gayle King and Kevin Frazier for coverage beginning at 4 a.m. EST.
NBC
Today show co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb will be hosting the network’s Today at the Royal Wedding near Windsor Castle starting at 4:30 a.m. EST. The show will have correspondents placed all over London to record a glimpse of the royal wedding mania sweeping the city including Al Roker, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Megyn Kelly.
ABC
A special edition of Good Morning America will kick off ABC’s coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s big day. Robin Roberts and World News Tonight‘s David Muir will be stationed at Windsor Castle to broadcast the wedding live beginning at 5 a.m. EST.
E! News
Giuliana Rancic will be resuming her red carpet duties for the royal wedding this year. The Fashion Police host will be weighing in on all of the British fashion happenings during the day, including Markle’s wedding gown. Brad Goreski, Royals expert and E! News Chief Correspondent Melanie Bromley, and E! UK host Sarah-Jane Crawford will also be tossing their commentator hat into the ring.
HBO
HBO might not be the first network you think of when it comes to royal wedding coverage but the cable giant has big plans for the special day. Funny or Die is partnering with the channel to resurrect broadcasting legends Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan (Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon) who provided some colorful commentary of the Rose Parade for Amazon Prime earlier this year.
Plenty of other networks, including Fox, PBS and TLC are planning their own segments to celebrate with the royals in case these options just don’t work for you.
