Early projections had estimated that more than three billion people would watch Harry and Meghan’s wedding, compared to the two billion who watched the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge marry at Westminster Abbey. Keep in mind that these numbers, provided by Harper’s Bazaar, include TV and Internet view estimates.
However, Telegraph reported later today that an estimated 1.9 billion watched the royal wedding today. This would be roughly equal to the 2 billion estimates for Kate and Willam that Harper’s Bazaar provided, including TV and Internet and in-person.
However, some people doubt the two billion estimate for William and Kate’s wedding. Deadline reported that the largest ever global audience for a TV event was 1 billion in 2008 for the Olympic games in Beijing. It was doubtful that 1/3 of the world’s population at the time watched the royal wedding, skeptics said at the time.
But now that skepticism is going to be put to the test. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that their wedding will have the greatest views and ratings yet, considering how many more people have access to the Internet and are using social media now than even as recently as 2011. We will update this story later this afternoon or Sunday, when more exact estimates are available for the wedding.
Windsor Council estimated that 100,000 spectators came to watch Meghan and Harry’s carriage procession in person at the Windsor grounds. Meghan and Harry’s 25-minute procession left St. George’s Chapel where they were married, traveled around Windsor, and then returned to Windsor Castle.
But in contrast, Westminster City Council reported in 2011 that the Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding was watched by nearly a million people on the streets of London. It was a huge affair, celebrating the wedding of the man who was second in line to the throne. Their procession took them from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace, and they shared a balcony kiss that delighted the crowd.
The 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Diana drew 660,000 spectators lining the procession from Clarence House. They had 3,500 guests at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Part of the reason they chose the Cathedral over Westminster Abbey was to have a longer procession through London.
So why did Meghan and Harry’s wedding have so many fewer people watching in person? Prince William and Kate’s wedding was the first royal wedding to capture the public’s attention since Charles and Diana in 1981. As the second in line to the throne, William’s wedding naturally attracted more attention than Harry’s. In addition, Meghan and Harry’s wedding took place on the same day as the FA Cup tournament.
The difference in numbers might also lie in how the processions were done. William and Kate’s processional rode through central London around Buckingham Palace, and they were married at Westminster Abbey. Harry and Meghan’s procession was just as beautiful and just as happy, but it was also quite different. They rode in their own Ascot Landau carriage around Windsor castle and were married at St. George’s Chapel, a smaller but beautiful venue. Windsor’s council advised that camping was forbidden for this procession, and tents were also banned.
This is a developing story.
