On Saturday, the royal wedding will commence, and Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will say their vows at Windsor Castle. If you’re like the 23 million Americans who watched the last royal wedding (Kate and William in 2011), you’re psyched to bust out your tea and scones and watch the elaborate gowns and tiny hats on parade.
The royal wedding: how to watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s big day
You can watch it, stream it, see it in theaters, or play it on vinyl.
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Constance Grady is a senior correspondent on the Culture team for Vox, where since 2016 she has covered books, publishing, gender, celebrity analysis, and theater.
Luckily, you have plenty of options for watching the festivities, which will air in one format or another on TV, streaming online, and in movie theaters(!). The ceremony will be available pretty much anywhere you care to look for it, as long as you keep the time difference in mind.
Here’s where you need to be, teacups and fascinators in hand, to see the latest royal wedding.
When: Saturday, May 19. The ceremony itself begins at noon London time, meaning 7 am ET/4 am PT, but most of the outlets covering it will have extensive preshows airing even earlier.
How to watch on TV: If you prefer to watch straightforward live network TV coverage, you’re golden. CBS’s coverage starts at 4 am ET with a preshow hosted by Gayle King and Kevin Frazier, and will include a two-hour special airing at 8 pm on Saturday. NBC has sent the hosts of the Today show to Windsor Castle for its coverage, which will begin at 4:30 am ET Saturday. ABC is sleeping in all the way until 5 am ET for its coverage, hosted by Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts and World News Tonight’s David Muir.
PBS will begin its royal wedding coverage at 4:30 am ET. BBC America will begin its coverage starting at 4 am ET, with a live and direct simulcast of BBC ONE’s coverage with limited commercial breaks. CNN’s coverage will begin at 4 am ET, anchored by Anderson Cooper, Alisyn Camerota and Don Lemon. Fox News will have Ainsley Earhardt co-hosting Fox and Friends from Windsor Castle starting at 5 am ET, with coverage of the main event hosted by Shepard Smith and Sandra Smith starting at 6 am. And finally, HBO will air The Royal Wedding Live With Cord and Tish! at 7:30 am ET, with Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon commenting in character as “broadcast legends” Cord and Tish.
How to watch via streaming: CBS will live-stream all its royal wedding coverage through CBSN Live, starting at 4 am ET. Starting at 5 am, ABC will live-stream its coverage through ABCNews.com, GoodMorningAmerica.com, their mobile apps, and social platforms. The New York Times has also announced that it will stream the ceremony on its website, as will Reuters, CNN, fuboTV, and PeopleTV. If you have a cable login, BBC America will also live-stream the show. If you prefer to watch the wedding on your phone, the app Dreams will have a live-stream specially formatted for vertical viewing. And the whole thing will also be on the Royal Family’s YouTube channel (they’ve got one!).
How to watch in theaters: Fathom Events is showing the royal wedding at 200 movie theaters across the country, starting at 10 am local time.
How to listen: If you’re strictly interested in this wedding for the music (set to be a mixture of gospel and choral arrangements), Decca Records is recording it all, along with the spoken parts of the ceremony, and will make the soundtrack available for digital download and streaming on Spotify and Apple Music just hours after the ceremony. It will be released on vinyl (really) on May 25.
Update: This article has been updated to include royal wedding coverage plans for Fox News, BBC America, Reuters, CNN, PeopleTV, fuboTV, and Dreams.
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By Cheryl Wischhover
By Constance Grady
