Weddings, funerals, coronations: A look at the history of royal live broadcasts

Few live news events capture global attention like a Royal Family milestone, and the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday promises to be a strong draw for royal and history buffs.

Canada’s major networks are planning live broadcast coverage when the King and Queen Consort, Camilla, are crowned in a ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey on Saturday at 6 a.m. ET.

The last coronation took place 70 years ago with the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II. The elaborate three-hour ritual was the first coronation to be televised.

Buckingham Palace says that event drew 27 million TV viewers in the United Kingdom alone – out of a population of 36 million at the time – while 11 million listened on the radio.

Since then, multiple royal funerals, weddings and tell-all interviews have captivated audiences, even as many viewers shifted to digital streaming platforms in recent years.

Here’s a look at past royal events that were beamed across the globe.

Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, Sept. 19, 2022

As it will be for the King’s coronation, many Canadians who wanted to witness Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral service had to rise early that morning to catch the solemn sight of a carriage bearing her coffin and crown to Westminster Abbey. King Charles III and his sons, Princes William and Harry, walked behind as bagpipers played. Global dignitaries who paid their respects included Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron. The queen was laid to rest alongside her late husband Prince Philip, who died April 9, 2021.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Oprah Winfrey interview, March 7, 2021

Meghan and Harry’s televised interview with Oprah Winfrey roiled royal watchers with revelations Meghan had suicidal thoughts after joining the family. Then there was the bombshell that palace conversations involved the skin colour of the couple’s future children. CBS’s two-hour telecast was highly billed as an explosive tell-all and fuelled divisive public debate about the future of the monarchy.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, May 19, 2018

Following a highly scrutinized courtship, then-Prince Charles’s youngest son Harry wed U.S. actress Meghan Markle in a celebrity-studded ceremony that enthralled gossip fans on both sides of the pond. Their wedding at Windsor Castle was televised and live streamed around the world, melding royal tradition with Hollywood glamour as cameras caught famous attendees including George Clooney and Serena Williams.

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, April 29, 2011

The much-heralded broadcast of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton occurred in a new era of viewership that went well beyond the mere radio and television coverage of previous royal milestones. This time, images of Charles’s eldest son and his college sweetheart also reached millions online who streamed, tweeted and blogged their reactions in real time.

Diana, Princess of Wales funeral, Sept. 6, 1997

The death of the “People’s Princess” in a Paris car crash while Diana was pursued by paparazzi unleashed a flood of grief across much of the Commonwealth. The funeral nearly a week later was a remarkable display of public emotion with cameras catching crowds of onlookers weeping in the street and even the usually stoic Queen Elizabeth II bowing her head as Diana’s casket passed Buckingham Palace.

Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer’s wedding, July 29, 1981

The union of then-Prince Charles and Diana was a spectacular display of opulent royal grandeur captured by cameras for an enraptured global audience. Their fairy tale ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral was christened the “wedding of the century” and generated some of the most indelible images of the late former Princess of Wales, who epitomized bridal celebrity in a voluminous silk taffeta and antique lace gown.

Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, June 2, 1953

Seventy years ago, the queen broke ground by becoming the first British monarch to have her coronation televised and offering, for most people, the public’s first glimpse of the elaborate ritual. More than 2,000 journalists and 500 photographers from 92 nations witnessed the coronation procession route.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2023.

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