It’s the social event of the year. You already heard how hard it was to get an invite — but that’s doesn’t mean you can’t be there for the action. Sort of. No, we’re not talking about Preakness. We’re talking, of course, about how to watch the royal wedding.
Whether you call it the royal wedding, Prince Harry’s wedding, or Meghan Markle’s wedding, it’s bringing most of the world to a stand-still Saturday, May 19. And since so few of us can be in the U.K, let alone anywhere near the actual ceremony, it’s essential to know how to watch the royal wedding, so we pulled together a guide. Ready the cocktails and your fascinator, folks, so you can cheers the happy couple as soon as the ceremony is over.
How to watch the royal wedding (or, Prince Harry’s wedding)
We’re going to go ahead and also call it Prince Harry’s wedding to avoid confusion with the other royal wedding (which, for the record, you can still watch from start to finish online). No judgement if you also call it Prince Harry’s wedding so you can pretend Meghan’s out of the picture and it’s you up there in her place.
And you better make that cocktail a mimosa, because you’ll be watching the royal wedding at breakfast time if you’re streaming from The States. The actual ceremony for Prince Harry’s wedding will happen at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle around noon London time. That’s bright and early at 7 a.m. EST or, brace yourselves, 4 a.m. PT. If you’re willing to get up even earlier you’ll catch coverage before the ceremony of celebrity arrivals.
We’ll let you worry about that when the day comes. For now, here’s how to watch the royal wedding at whatever time you do roll out of bed.
ABC
Start the big day with coverage courtesy of Good Morning America at 5 a.m. EST featuring Robin Roberts and World News Tonight’s David Muir as the hosts. You can also use the networks other outlets, ABCNews.com and GoodMorningAmerica.com as well as their social platforms and apps to stream the five-hour broadcast.
BBC America
Well, of course BBC is airing Prince Harry’s wedding. Use your cable provider information to login and watch their live stream or tune into BBC America to watch the royal wedding live starting at 4:15 a.m. EST. If you’re really committed to this event and willing to get up at 3 in the morning, you can catch their special, Harry & Meghan: A Very Modern Romance starting at 3:15 a.m. EST.
CBSN Live (Live Stream)
CBSN, CBS’s live stream, has you covered starting at 4 a.m. EST. You can live stream every detail of Prince Harry’s wedding without a cable subscription by going to CBSN live here when the time is right.
CBS
Not satisfied with a live stream? This network has you covered on everything royal wedding. In addition to the CBSN live stream, CBS will have Gayle King and Kevin Frazier covering the big starting at 4 a.m. EST. Hang in there and watch the whole thing, including the post-ceremony carriage ride, and then you’ll also get to watch a two-hour special called Royal Romance: The Marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which will air at 8 p.m. EST.
Fox News
Catch Ainsley Earhardt live from Windsor on FOX & Friends Weekend starting at 5 a.m. EST (make sure the coffee’s on, OK), who will be joined by Shepard Smith and Sandra Smith at 6 a.m. EST from outside of St. George’s Chapel, where the ceremony will take place.
HBO
If you’re tuning in on HBO make sure you know what this network has planned, otherwise you might be prone to take it too seriously in your caffeine-deprived early morning state. Though the programming on HBO that say is called The Royal Wedding Live with Cord and Tish!, look closely at the colorful commentators and you’ll see it’s Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon reprising their personas from the Rose Bowl Parade. There will comedic commentary, so know that going in. It’s a parody, people. The humorous special will start at 7:30 a.m. EST and air again later that night at 9:45 p.m. EST.
NBC
Get ready to see the royal wedding coverage from “a special vantage point” with The Today Show hosts Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Megyn Kelly and Kathie Lee Gifford. They’ll be overlooking Windsor Castle and their coverage starts at 4:30 a.m EST sharp.
PBS
Although their royal wedding content starts with pre-ceremony coverage at 3 a.m. EST, you might want to tune in the days leading up to the big event. You can catch their special series Royal Wedding Watch from May 14 to 18, leading up to their live coverage. The special airs at 10:30 p.m. EST each night.
TLC
If you’re tuning into Prince Harry’s wedding mostly for the style, like Meghan Markle’s wedding dress, you’ll want to turn to TLC for royal wedding coverage. Naturally they have a four-hour feed starting at 5 a.m. EST of the actual ceremony, but that’s followed by a special for sartorialists out there: TLC’s Royal Wedding Revealed, which will air at 10 p.m. EST. You’ll get to run through the wedding details all over again with commentary from style experts Randy Fenoli (of Say Yes to the Dress fame), Lori Allen, Monte Durham, George Kotsiopoulos and Hayley Paige.
If you’re a long-time TLC fan you likely already know about their documentaries leading up to the big day. If not, it might be time to make TLC one of your go-to channels. In the days leading up to Prince Harry’s wedding you can catch three one-hour documentaries: Prince Harry: Wild No More; Meghan Markle: A Royal Love Story; and Secrets of the Royal Wedding. One airs each night at 8 p.m. EST beginning on Friday.
How to watch the royal wedding in movie theaters
If you feel like a small screen just won’t do Prince Harry’s wedding justice, then cross your fingers and check out the list of movie theaters airing the royal wedding. There are about 200 U.S. movie theaters showing the event at 10 a.m. EST on Saturday, May 19 thanks to a partnership between Fathom Events and BritBox, the subscription service from BBC Studios and ITV. You can buy tickets and search for a movie theater near you here.
