Scots left out as nation prepares to tune in via chain of big TV screens
THE BBC has been accused of “short-changing” licence fee payers in Scotland because there are no big outdoor screens to broadcast the royal wedding north of the border.
People in England, Wales and Northern Ireland can watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot on giant screens in several towns and cities including Belfast, Swansea and Leeds.
However, BBC bosses are not planning anything similar in Scotland, despite previous public screenings for royal events such as William and Kate’s wedding and the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees.
Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said: “It will obviously disappoint certain people in Scotland and inevitably there will be people who feel a bit short-changed but this is obviously
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something the BBC has decided to do for whatever reason.”
The BBC’s royal wedding schedule was announced earlier this month, with director of content Charlotte Moore promising the coverage would “bring the nation together”.
Kirsty Young, Chris Evans, Huw Edwards, Dermot O’Leary and Carol Kirkwood are among the big names who will be in Windsor next Saturday to cover the nuptials at St George’s Chapel.
A statement said: “The BBC will also bring its live coverage of the royal wedding ceremony direct to the nation with big screens situated throughout the UK, including in Belfast, Salisbury, Leeds, Swansea, Winchester and Portsmouth, allowing communities to come together and share in the big day.”
In the past, the BBC has helped to set up a network of LED screens in towns and cities across the UK, although they are not directly owned or operated by the Corporation.
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One was installed in Edinburgh’s Festival Square in 2009 and hundreds of people watched live coverage of Prince William’s wedding in 2011 and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee pageant and concert the following year.
However, it was taken down and sold for scrap by the city council in 2015 after a row over funding, leaving Scotland as the only part of the UK without a BBC big screen. The BBC also installed a temporary big screen in Glasgow’s George Square in 2002 to allow people to watch the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.
Scottish Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said last night: “It is very disappointing that the BBC seem to have forgotten about Scotland when they were planning these big screen events.
“There are many fans of the Royal Family in Scotland who I’m sure would have liked the opportunity being offered to other parts of the UK.
“People in Scotland pay the same licence fee as everybody else and there seems no good reason why they should not be given the same opportunities.”
It recently emerged that only one Scottish council has received an application for a royal wedding street party, to be held in Elgin, Morayshire.