Viewing options abound for Royal Wedding
COMMENTARY
When Harry meets Meghan at the altar Saturday, you’ll have a range of ways to watch.
The royal wedding of British Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle will receive wide coverage on television. Yet the nuptials at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle also will make it into theaters.
“Harry & Meghan: The Royal Wedding” will play on the big screen — without commercials — on Saturday, May 19, in more than 200 theaters across the United States. There are screenings at 10 a.m. at Regal Winter Park Village 20 and AMC Disney Springs 24. The multiplex marriage comes courtesy of Fathom Events, BritBox and ITV. For details, check fathomevents.com.
Younger royal watchers can celebrate the royal wedding with the children’s book “Fancy Nancy and the Wedding of the Century.” Everyone is encouraged to dress up in Fancy Nancy attire for the story time at 11 a.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble at Colonial Plaza Market Center, 2418 E. Colonial Drive in Orlando.
Adult royal fans can look to Pub Orlando at Pointe Orlando. It will offer the “Royal Wedding Royal Brunch,” from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, complete with drink specials and giveaways. The website is experiencethepub.com.
The Country Club of Orlando will present “Bathrobes & Tiaras Royal Wedding Watch Party” from 6 to 9 a.m. Saturday. The events costs $30 per person, and an RSVP is requested by May 15. You can register at YourCaringLawFirm.com/events. The event offers sandwiches, scones, fruit, desserts and a cash bar. “We will snark on outfits on TV,” the invite reads.
The commentary could be snarky on HBO with hosts Cord Hosenbeck (Will Ferrell) and Tish Cattigan (Molly Shannon). The coverage starts at 7:30 a.m. Saturday with a repeat at 9:45 p.m. The “Pasadena broadcast legends” are produced by Funny Or Die, the comedy video website.
CBS starts its coverage at 4 a.m. Saturday. Hosts Gayle King of “CBS This Morning” and Kevin Frazier of “Entertainment Tonight” will draw on commentator Tina Brown. CBS recaps the day with a two-hour special at 8 p.m. Saturday.
NBC’s “Today” will devote all four hours from Windsor on Friday. Wedding day coverage, hosted by Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, begins at 4:30 a.m. The hosts will be joined by Megyn Kelly, Kathie Lee Gifford, Al Roker and Sheinelle Jones.
Robin Roberts and David Muir will lead ABC’s coverage from 5 to 10 a.m. Saturday on “Good Morning America.” ABC also will offer specials, hosted by Muir, at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The coverage will extend to other channels. BBC America will simulcast BBC One’s coverage at 4 a.m. with limited commercial breaks. BBC America will offer wedding highlights through the day and a repeat of the wedding at 10 p.m. Saturday.
You’ll find the wedding on cable news channels. Shepard Smith and Sandra Smith will anchor at 6 a.m. from Windsor for Fox News Channel. MSNBC starts coverage at 4 a.m. with Joy Reid in New York and Stephanie Ruhle and Katy Tur at Windsor. CNN starts at 4 a.m. with Anderson Cooper, Alisyn Camerota and Don Lemon anchoring from Windsor.
“TLC’s Royal Wedding Live” begins at 5 a.m. and runs four hours. “TLC’s Royal Wedding Revealed” starts at 10 p.m. Saturday, runs one hour and is hosted by Shaun Robinson.
E! offers five hours of coverage, starting at 5 a.m., then recaps the day in a one-hour special at 7 p.m.
Telemundo offers Spanish-language coverage at 5 a.m. and the special “Megan y Harry, La Boda Real” at 10 p.m. María Celeste Arrarás leads the coverage, produced with NBC.
Prince Harry is one of the world’s best-liked celebrities. Ask anyone who met him when he visited Orlando for the Invictus Games in 2016. Markle gained celebrity on “Suits,” a USA drama that she departed last month after her character, Rachel Zane, married.
Nothing, of course, beats the real thing.