BORED OF THE RINGS

Royal nups yawner: poll

PRINCE HARRY will marry Meghan Markle on Saturday and nearly three out of four Americans couldn’t care less. A YouGov poll published by HuffPost on Wednesday revealed that only 28% of U.S. residents are interested in the couple’s (right) heavily hyped nuptials at England’s Windsor Castle this weekend. According to HuffPost, only 30% of Brits care either.

The survey, which cites 1,600 adults in the U.K. and 2,000 in the U.S., bears little good news for the bride-to-be in particular. Asked to name their “favourite” royal, only 2% of Brits picked the Los Angeles born “Suits” star. Prince Harry, on the other hand, whom 18% of respondents pick as their favorite royal, was second only to Queen Elizabeth in popularity.

Markle’s family has taken center stage in the worst way this week. Her father, Thomas, was the subject of a reportedly staged paparazzi photo shoot in which he appeared to be getting fitted for formalwear. He has since complained of chest pains that will likely prohibit him from crossing the Pond on his daughter’s big day.

Markel’s half-sister Samantha appears to have worsened things on Wednesday by doing an interview with TMZ, insisting, “There’s something in this country called freedom of speech” that allows her to speak in defense of herself and her father, regardless of the embarassment that may cause her celebrity sibling.

But even that may register as more white noise to an indifferent public. Based on the survey, HuffPost concludes: “The scale of hysteria in the global media, which is dominating front pages around the world, is not quite matched in either country.”

The wedding ceremony, set to begin at 7 a.m. Eastern time, will be seen live on major networks. Its competition at that hour will include fishing shows on the Discovery Channel and ESPN2, a rerun of “The Rifleman” featuring Martin Landau on AMC and on TBS, a season two repeat of “Married . . . With Children” in which the family is at odds over having their dog neutered.