Royalty Check: TLC Married To Wedding Coverage

By Tom Comi

You have to give the folks at TLC some credit. Knowing full well how enamored (read: obsessed) Americans are with all things Royal, TLC has cleverly decided to devote a week of coverage to capitalize on the April 29th wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Cha-ching!

Teaming up with ITV Studios America, TLC beginning April 24 will air a “Royal Lineup” of their favorite shows (or “favourite” for those on the other side of the pond). And when people think of a lavish, English wedding, the first thing that instantly comes to mind is hoarding, right? Therefore, a special will be dedicated to both American and British folks who over-collect, as well as those enthralled with stockpiling Royal memorabilia. Smashing!

Perhaps more fittingly, there will also be interviews with the Royal family, features with archived footage, and a roundtable discussion that will lead up to the network’s live coverage the morning of the nuptials. If you aren’t fired up for the vows by then, you might want to check your pulse for a beat or turn the channel to ESPN.

To say William and Kate have a lot to live up to regarding the hype would be an understatement. The wedding coverage of William’s parents (Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana) in July of 1981 drew an estimated 750 million viewers world-wide. Sadly the coverage of Diana’s funeral in September of 1997 was seen by approximately 2.5 billion spectators, or roughly half of the world’s population at the time.

Stay tuned here for updates over the next several months, because there are already a lot of false rumors flying around. I can dispel a few for you right now: William and Kate are not registered at Crate and Barrel;  they will be not be honeymooning in the Poconos; and Buddy from the TLC show Cake Boss has sadly not been hired for this event.