When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle march down the aisle in Windsor, England, on May 19, they'll be watched by 600 invited guests and additional untold numbers of nosy onlookers.
And that’s just the American TV hosts.
Ha, ha, we kid. Sort of. There will be cameras positioned inside St. George's Chapel to televise and livestream the hotly anticipated nuptials between the Queen's roguish redheaded grandson and his American actress beloved. And U.S. broadcast and cable networks are taking full advantage of it. (And not just them. Earlier this week, Fathom Events announced it will show the wedding and festivities commercial-free and almost live at select movie theaters around the country.)
The wedding ceremony is scheduled for 7 a.m. EDT (noon in the United Kingdom). Most networks are planning at least five hours of live coverage starting as early as 5 a.m. on the big day.
That's all?!
Hardly.
From more dignified PBS specials to a brand new Lifetime movie featuring Harry and Meghan “lookalikes” (you be the judge), there’ll be gobs of royal wedding-related programming in the days leading up to the ceremony. It won’t even end with the “I do’s” as there will be replays and more specials for hours afterwards.
Here’s your royal wedding viewing guide. It will continue to be updated with late breaking programming information.
THE WEDDING DAY (May 19) [All times EDT]
ABC: 5 a.m. Special five-hour live edition of "Good Morning America" from Windsor hosted by GMA co-anchor Robin Roberts and "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir. Simulcast on ABCNews.com, GoodMorning.com, mobile and social.
CBS: 4 a.m. Live coverage anchored by "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King and "Entertainment Tonight" co-host Kevin Frazier. Also shown live on 24/7 streaming news network CBSN.
NBC: 4:30 a.m. Special 6-1/2 hour edition of "TODAY at the Royal Wedding" from Windsor anchored by Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb. Live streamed on TODAY.com, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
PBS: It will show the wedding live. No information available yet what time its coverage will start.
BBC America: Live direct simulcast and streaming of coverage by the BBC in the United Kingdom. Commentary by BBC experts and limited commercial interruption. The cable channel hasn't said yet what time its coverage will start.
E! News: 5 a.m. Giuliana Rancic and Brad Goreski host five hour "Live from the Royal Wedding" from Windsor. One-hour recap at 7 p.m.
Fox News Channel: 5 a.m. Ainsley Earhardt hosts "Fox and Friends Weekend" live from Windsor. Live coverage of the wedding and surrounding festivities continues at 6 a.m.with chief news anchor Shepard Smith and America's Newsroom co-anchor Sandra Smith outside St. George's Chapel. Livestreamed on Foxnews.com.
HBO: 7:30 a.m. "The Royal Wedding Live with Cord and Tish!" Co-hosted by Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan, aka Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon, with Tim Meadows and produced by Funny or Die. Hopefully they'll put fewer noses out of joint than they did with their unique live coverage of this year's Rose Parade.Or not. Replay at 9:45 p.m.
In movie theaters: Fathom Events and Brit Box, a subscription service that brings BBC and ITV shows from the United Kingdom to American TV's, are teaming up for this screening of the nuptials "captured live" from Windsor and presented commercial-free.
SPECIALS, MOVIES AND OTHER PROGRAMMING:
May 11:
“Meghan Markle: An American Princess” 8 p.m. Fox. A two-hour special exploring Markle’s life before meeting Prince Harry and what her future holds. Includes interviews with Markle’s half-sister, Samantha Markle, royal correspondent and Harry’s biographer, Katie Nicholl; and Paul Burrell, Princess Diana’s former butler.
May 13:
“Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance” 8 p.m. Lifetime. The network better known for flicks like “Deadly Matrimony” and “Unsolved Mysteries” reruns brings us this made-for-TV movie about, well, the title says it all. Murray Fraser and Parisa Fitz-Henley are the sorta lookalikes portraying Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
“Million Dollar American Princesses: Meghan Markle” 9 p.m. Smithsonian Channel. This absorbing documentary series began with the 19th century American heiresses whose real life stories inspired “Downton Abbey” and has since moved on to more modern subjects such as movie stars who married into royalty. This special edition uses archival footage and interviews to look at Markle’s story in the context of Grace Kelly, Rita Hayworth and other Americans who married into the European aristocracy.
“Headliners: Queen Elizabeth II” 9 p.m. MSNBC. NBC News correspondent and MSNBC anchor Katy Tur hosts this one-hour pre-wedding special that looks at the life of Europe’s longest reigning monarch (and grandma of the bridegroom).
May 14
"Royal Wedding Watch" 10 p.m. PBS. Meredith Viera and U.K. host Matt Baker anchor this five-night series (it airs at 10:30 p.m. on May 18 only) that will look at the history, ceremonies and traditions helping to shape this royal wedding.
May 16:
“Inside the Royal Wedding: Harry and Meghan” 10 p.m. NBC. Hosted by “Today’s” Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, this one-hour special includes interviews with close friends of the couple, insider reports on wedding fashions, guests and more.
May 18:
“Royal Slumber Party” 7:45 p.m. Freeform. Wedding-themed movies and the like air leading up to Freeform’s simulcast of the special royal wedding edition of “Good Morning America” at 5 a.m. Saturday.
“20/20” 10 p.m. ABC. David Muir and Deborah Roberts lead this look at “the two most important women in Prince Harry’s life:” Markle and his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. This special edition will also cover last-minute details of the wedding, which will be just hours away.
May 19:
“A Royal Celebration” 1 p.m. Hallmark Channel. Kicking off with an encore presentation of “Dater’s Handbook,” the 2016 TV movie starring Markle, Hallmark presents a daylong movie marathon, four of which have royal romance themes. It culminates at 9 p.m. with the premiere of “Royally Ever After,” about an American commoner (Fiona Gubelmann) whose boyfriend (Torrance Coombs) secretly is a prince of a small European country.
“Royal Romance: The Marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle” 8 p.m. CBS. A two-hour special recapping all the happenings of the big day.
“20/20” 10 p.m. ABC. Another special edition recaps the wedding, events before and after the ceremony and offers “other inside details.”
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