Prince William, son of Prince Charles (heir apparent to both the throne of England and the Commonwealth) and Princess Diana (may she rest in peace), is getting married to his long-time girlfriend Kate Middleton, daughter of two people who are significantly less famous than Charles and Di. (For those who are truly interested, Kate is from a family of airline enthusiasts; her mother is a flight attendant and her father is a flight dispatcher). If you’re one of the nine people who wasn’t already aware that the “royal wedding” is taking place today – right now, even – then it’s time you get a move on! Luckily, there are still ways you can check out video of the wedding itself, view live streams of remaining events, check out highlight reels, and get updates in a variety of other formats. Here are five ways you can check out the royal wedding in all its many forms.
1) Via Streaming Video
While the wedding itself took place earlier this morning (11am BST, 7am EDT), there are still events that can be viewed through live streaming – including the reception and, of course, commentary and highlights from events earlier in the day. Here are just a few of the places you can check out what’s going on now:
- The official YouTube channel of the royal family (aka, the “Royal Channel”).
- Hulu Live, which has multiple live streams, including from Fox and ABC.
- The CNN site, or its smartphone/tablet apps.
- The Jay and Silent Bob Ustream channel (yes, really).
Want more? Check out last night’s SEJ entry, which contains a full list of streaming resources. And don’t worry: many of these resources are likely to broadcast a trimmed-down version of the ceremony itself once a little editing/commenting time has been allowed.
2) Via Twitter
Are you a tweet-a-holic? No doubt, Twitter will be flooded with posts about #rw2011 – the official hashtag of the event. Meanwhile, #RoyalWedding is likely to see plenty of hits, and the ABC-invented #RoyalSuccess and #RoyalMess will help people get a narrower view of the goings-on. Additionally, there are a few dedicated channels for event tweets, including:
- @clarencehouse (the official source from the royal family)
- @bbcroyalwedding
- @royalweddingCNN
- @royalwedding (run by the Today Show)
3) Via Tumblr
Love the microblogging service? Check out the official royal wedding page or add to it yourself. Thus far, this page seems primarily devoted to funny pictures and a few on-the-scene snapshots, but more is expected to be uploaded as the day progresses – with a huge swarm of media once those who made it to the event make it back home with their digital cameras.
4) Via Flickr
Image junkie? Flickr has two major resources for you: the official British Monarchy account, which will be uploading authorized pictures of the event, and the People’s Royal Wedding group, designed to show the groundlings’ view of the wedding. You can also check out the royal wedding Life gallery, which will include both wedding photos and images of responses, related events, and so on.
5) Via the Official Site
One of the best resources for those who want a bit of everything is the official royal wedding site. Not only will the site be showing off the official video stream of the event (it’s the same one as you’ll find on YouTube’s “Royal Channel”), but you’ll also see content pulled from the official Facebook page, the Flickr account, and the Twitter page. Additional resources (descriptions of the event proceedings, an FAQ, background information on the bride and groom, suggestions for ways to wish the couple a happy life together, related news stories, and more) are also present and accounted for on the official site.
Know of another place to find great content about the royal wedding? Know a site that’s already showing off a video of the ceremony itself? Let us know by using the comments section below.
