Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Tie The Knot Saturday, Are You Ready For A Royal Wedding?

Meghan Markle, the biracial American actress perhaps better known as Rachel from USA’s Suits,  officially becomes a princess Saturday. She’ll wed Prince Henry of Wales, better known to us commoners around the world as Prince Harry.

Saturday’s royal wedding will take place at noon in the United Kingdom, meaning millions of Americans stateside will be setting their alarm clocks for quite the early wakeup to watch.

We’ve compiled stories and tidbits from around the internet so you can be properly prepared to watch the late Princess Diana’s youngest son get married.

Will Meghan Markle’s father attend? If he doesn’t go can he dad from Suits walk her down the aisle? Who else will be there? How can I watch it? How early do I have to get up to watch it? Who will be there? What will Rachel Zane’s princess name be after the wedding?

Here’s your guide to Saturday’s royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

How Can I Watch On Saturday?

Wondering how you can watch the festivities on Saturday?

Get up early.

Guest are scheduled to begin arriving for the wedding at around 10:30 am in London. That would be 4:30 am in St. Louis. USA TODAY will be streaming from the grounds live.

The actual ceremony in St. George’s Chapel, where six hundred will be in attendance, is set to begin at 6 am in St. Louis, or noon there. After the hour-long ceremony, Princess Meghan and Prince Harry will take a carriage ride through Windsor Town.

With three billion people expected to watch this royal wedding, there are multiple options for watching live coverage.

Robin Roberts and David Muir will start their live coverage on ABC for Good Morning America at 4 am (St. Louis). CBS This Morning and CNN will both start their coverage an hour earlier.

CNN’s coverage will be anchored by Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon and Alisyn Camerota. The dean of Boston University, Harvey Young, will also be involved. He was Markle’s theater professor at Northwestern.

E! will have morning coverage beginning at 4 am. The network will also air a special, E! Royal Wedding Rundown, at 6 pm Saturday evening.

Prince Charles will host the wedding reception for his son and daughter-in-law Saturday evening at Frogmore House. The reception will not be televised, but we do know that around 200 guests have been invited and they will enjoy a lemon and elderflower cake with buttercream and fresh flowers.

HBO will definitely have the funniest coverage of the day Saturday, as Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon are set to host wedding coverage starting at 6:30 am. Ferrell and Shannon will be in-character as Saturday Night Live broadcast legends Cord and Tish. The special will re-air tomorrow night at 8:45 pm.

Cord and Tish joined The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to preview the upcoming wedding. They also sang a song that they wrote for Harry and Meghan.

What You Need To Know Before The Royal Wedding Saturday

How Did Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Meet?

How did a 36-year old American actress meet her prince? Credit goes to Violet von Westenholz, a PR director for Ralph Lauren. Prince Harry had confided in her about his difficulties dating and Violet set him up on a blind date with Markle.

While the fact the two met on a blind date appears to be a fact, the question of who set them up on that date is somewhat murky. Some reports credit Mischa Nonoo with connecting the pair.

If you’ve seen the Lifetime movie on the royal couple and think you know the whole story of the romance, you should probably read this. 

Why Is Meghan Markle Becoming A Princess So Important?

A lot has been written, and a lot more will surely be written, about how Meghan Markle isn’t your typical royal. At 36 and 3 years older than Harry, Markle will be the oldest royal bride in history. She’s also divroced from first husband Trevor Engelson. They were married from 2011-2013.

As Jessica Wakeman with NBC News points out, this isn’t “some princess fantasy.” Wakeman points out how this soon-to-be-princess has led quite the life for herself this far. It’s safe to say that there haven’t been many other woman in her position who have interned at a U.S. Embassy, spoke before the United Nations, written a popular lifestyle blog and been a highly-paid actress BEFORE marrying into the royal family.

For the record, Princess Meghan is expected to officially become Princess Henry of Wales after tomorrow. Well, technically that will be her name but Duchess of Wales will likely be the preferred way to refer to her.

Prince Charles To Walk Meghan Down The Aisle

At recently as last week, the plan seemed to be for Meghan Markle’s father to walk her down the aisle on Saturday. As of this writing, the plan calls for the American actress to be escorted the last few steps to the altar by Prince Charles, the groom’s father. Even in the official program for the wedding, Meghan’s father is listed as the person walking her down the aisle.

Experts, if you really can be an expert on royal weddings, say that this huge break from tradition further signifies how much Markle has been accepted by the royals.

Markle officially announced just yesterday that her father, Thomas Markle Sr., would not be attending the ceremony at all, nor would he be in London. The announcement, coming on Kensington Palace letterhead, was also tweeted by the royal Twitter account.

 

A statement from Ms. Meghan Markle: pic.twitter.com/TjBNarmuBU

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) May 17, 2018

Who Is Thomas Markle, Sr., Meghan’s Father?

The elder Markle reportedly suffered a heart attack last week and underwent surgery. He told media outlet TMZ that he thought doctors had implanted three stents in his heart.

Prior to his medical situation, paparazzi photos of Thomas from his hometown of Rosarito, Mexico hit media outlets. It then came out that the photos were staged by Markle himself in an attempt to improve his public image.

Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, is in England for the wedding and had tea with Queen Elizabeth earlier today.

Meghan’s Half-Sister Is Reportedly Writing A Book

Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland separated in the late 1980s when their daughter was just six years old. She also has two half-siblings from her father’s first marriage.

One of those siblings, Samantha, has not been shy about talking to the media about her half-sister, despite reports that they haven’t talked in more than a decade. Samantha, who sometimes uses the last name Grant was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis around the same time. She claims to be writing a book, which at one time was to be titled The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister, and at one time also said that she would be starring in a reality show.

Samantha has told media outlets that she did not get an invitation to the wedding. Samantha’s brother, Thomas Jr, also reportedly did not get an invite.

Mike Ross Will Be There But Did Donna Get An Invite To The Royal Wedding? What About The Spice Girls?

Patrick J. Adams, who played Mike Ross on Suits to Meghan Markle’s Rachel Zane, nabbed an invite to Saturday’s wedding. He has been sharing photos on Instagram this week of his visits to some really old London pubs. His company around town, his real-life wife, not to be confused with his on-screen wife that’s getting married Saturday.

2,640 people are scheduled to be on the Windsor Castle grounds during Saturday’s events. 1,200 of those have been specially selected by Lord Lieutenants based on parameters set out by the bride and groom.

Among the confirmed celebrities to get invites are Priyanka Chopra ( Quantico & Baywatch), Spice Girls Emma Bunton, Victoria Beckham and Geri Halliwell, Sir Elton John, Janina Gavankar (True Blood), James Blunt, Joss Stone, Serena Williams ans possible George Clooney along with his wife Amal.

As far as Suits cast goes, Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), Rick Hoffman (Louis Litt), Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) and Dana Scott (Abigail Spencer) are all expected to be in attendance.

And yes, Donna Paulson (Sarah Rafferty), will also be at the ceremony. No word on if Harvey will be on the arm of Donna or Scottie, however.

Ellen DeGeneres is not on the official guest list either, although she thinks she should have been invited.

Who Is In The Royal Wedding?

In somewhat disappointing news, brides apparently do not have a whole gaggle of bridesmaids at royal weddings. Sadly, Meghan didn’t get a trip to Nashville to pedal a bar around town. This group of bridesmaids will definitely be Litt, however.

Meghan’s bridesmaids will all be seven years of age or younger. Markle’s seven-year old god-daughter, twins Rylan and Remi, will be joined by Princess Charlotte, the three-year old daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The twin daughters of her friend Jessica Mulroney will also be among the group of children. She will not have a maid of honor.

Rylan and Remi Litt are the daughters of Markle’s friend, Benita Litt and her husband Darren. It’s unlikely, however, that they are aware of the not-quite-popular Suits catchphrase.

Prince George, Charlotte’s older brother, will serve as a page boy. Their youngest brother, Prince Louis, will not attend the wedding and will instead stay with a nanny. The Duke and Duchesss welcomed him into the world less than a month ago.

A “Royal Expert” recently confirmed that Kate looks amazing less than a month after giving birth.

Prince William will also serve as his younger brother’s Best Man. Two friends of Harry’s will serve as ushers. Two of his god daughters will also be among Meghan’s bridesmaids.

The page boys and bridesmaids will escort the bride down the aisle before she is met by Prince Charles. The identity of the person that will be in charge of keeping the children in order has not been revealed.

Meghan’s Connections To Al Bundy, Robin Thicke & Deal or No Deal

In an interview earlier this year with Esquire, Markle talked about growing up with Al Bundy as well as her connections to Robin Thicke and a popular game show.

When Meghan was a child, her father worked as a lighting director for various television shows. One of those shows was Married With Children.

“Every day after school for 10 years, I was on the set of Married… with Children, which is a really funny and perverse place for a little girl in a Catholic school uniform to grow up.”

Also in the interview, Meghan talked about her work as a caligraphy artist while trying to make it as a struggling actress. She also taught classes in the writing style as well as on topics like gift wrapping for Paper Source in Beverly Hills in the mid-2000s. She also took on freelance calligraphy work during that time and did the invitiations for the wedding between Robin Thicke and Paula Patton.

Another job that came before getting her big break on Suits was working as a “briefcase girl” on Deal or No Deal.

“I was the ill-fated number 26, which for some reason no one would ever choose. I would end up standing up there forever in these terribly uncomfortable and inexpensive five-inch heels just waiting for someone to pick my number so I could go and sit down.”

Need A Fun Place Around St. Louis To Watch The Royal Wedding?

Do you need somewhere to watch the wedding in all of its royalty? Check out non-ticketed events La Patisserie Chouquette on Tower Grove Avenue or The Novel Neithghbor on Big Bend. West End Grill & Pub in the Central West End is hosting a ticketed event with your $35 ticket including a variety of breakfast items, mimosas, cake and more.

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