Fox News' Royal Wedding Coverage

Fox News aired coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, which took place on Saturday 19 May 2018. The ceremony was held at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in the UK. Fox News' Shepard Smith and America's Newsroom anchor Sandra Smith co-anchored coverage of the wedding ceremony outside of Windsor starting at 6:00 a.m. EST.

Fox News' coverage of the wedding

Fox News aired coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding on May 19, 2018, with Shepard Smith and America’s Newsroom anchor Sandra Smith co-anchoring. Ainsley Earhardt also hosted Fox & Friends from England, before joining Shepard and Sandra Smith for the main coverage. Fox News correspondents from around the world joined the channel starting on May 17.

The coverage began at 6:00 a.m. EST, with the ceremony taking place at 7:00 a.m. EST. The wedding was held at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom.

In the lead-up to the wedding, Fox aired a two-hour special, Meghan Markle: An American Princess, which featured interviews with Markle's half-sister, former classmates, and co-stars.

The guest list

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding guest list was a tightly kept secret until the day of the wedding. The royal couple wedded on 19 May 2018 at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The venue could hold 800 guests, but only 600 people were invited to the service, with 200 guests at the evening reception.

Family

Harry's family members in attendance included his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, his father, Prince Charles, his brother, Prince William, and William's wife, Kate Middleton. Prince George of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, Harry's nephew and niece, were page boys and bridesmaids.

Harry's aunt, Princess Anne, and uncle, Vice-Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, were also in attendance. Other cousins and extended family members included Peter and Autumn Phillips, Zara and Michael Tindall, the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, Princess Beatrice of York, Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, Viscount Severn, the Earl and Countess of Snowdon, Viscount Linley, Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones, Lady Sarah and Daniel Chatto, Samuel Chatto, Arthur Chatto, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, Princess Alexandra, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Lady Sarah and Neil McCorquodale, Emily McCorquodale, George McCorquodale, Celia McCorquodale, the Lord and Lady Fellowes, the Hon. Laura Pettman, the Hon. Alexander Fellowes, the Hon. Eleanor Fellowes, the Earl and Countess Spencer, Lady Kitty Spencer, Lady Eliza Spencer, Viscount Althorp, Lady Elizabeth Shakerley, Lady Alexandra and Thomas Hooper, and Lady Carolyn Warren and John Warren.

Harry's step-family members were also in attendance, including Thomas and Sara Parker Bowles, Laura and Harry Lopes, Benjamin and Mary-Clare Elliot, and Michael and Carole Middleton.

Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, was her only family member in attendance.

Royalty

Other royal guests included Prince Seeiso and Princess Mabereng Seeiso of Lesotho, the Hereditary Prince and Princess of Oettingen-Spielberg, Sir John Major and his wife, Dame Norma Major, and Sir Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill.

Friends

Harry and Markle's friends in attendance included Markus Anderson, Alessandra Balazs, Carolyn Bartholomew, Cressida Bonas, Emilie van Cutsem, Major Nicholas van Cutsem and Alice van Cutsem, Adrian and Sophie Dandridge, Chelsy Davy and Shaun Davy, Rebecca Deacon and Adam Priestley, Heather Dorak and Matt Cohen, Mark Dyer and Amanda Dyer, Misan Harriman and Camilla Holmstroem, Patrick Harverson and Mel Harverson, Michael Hess, Ben Murray, Genevieve Hillis, Tom Inskip and The Hon. Lara Inskip, Daisy Jenks, Lindsay Jordan, Celine Khavarani, Brian Kocinski, Arthur Landon, Katalin Landon, Ed Lane Fox and Sonia Lane Fox, The Hon. Dame Shân Legge-Bourke, Zara Gordon-Lennox and Angus Gordon-Lennox, Silver Tree and Abraham Levy, Benita Litt and Darren Litt, Alexi Lubomirski, Isabel May, James Meade and Lady Laura Marsham, Lucy Meadmore, Guy Pelly and Lizzie Wilson, Tiggy Pettifer and Charles Pettifer, Frederick Pettifer, Julia Samuel and The Hon. Michael Samuel, Dean and Alana Stott, Alexander and Claire van Straubenzee, Charles van Straubenzee, Thomas van Straubenzee, The Lord Vestey, The Hon. William Vestey and Violet Henderson, Nicholas Walton Collins and Amelia Walton Collins, Amanda Ward, Jake Warren and Zoe Warren, Jessie Webb, Violet Von Westenholz, the Duchess of Westminster, Lady Edwina and Daniel Snow, the Duke of Westminster, and Lady Viola Grosvenor.

Celebrities

Celebrities in attendance included Oprah Winfrey, David and Victoria Beckham, George and Amal Clooney, Priyanka Chopra, James Corden and Julia Carey, Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre, Nacho Figueras and Delfina Blaquier, Janina Gavankar, Will Greenwood and Caroline Greenwood, Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley, James Haskell and Chloe Madeley, Rick Hoffman, Elton John and David Furnish, Gabriel Macht and Jacinda Barrett, Carey Mulligan and Marcus Mumford, Jessica and Ben Mulroney, Brian and John Mulroney, Ivy Mulroney, Misha Nonoo, Sarah Rafferty and Aleksanteri Olli-Pekka Seppälä, Jill Smoller, Abigail Spencer, Joss Stone, Gina Torres, Jonny Wilkinson and Shelley Jenkins, Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian, and Clive Woodward and Lady Woodward.

The wedding dress

The dress was made of silk with three-quarter-length sleeves, an open boat neckline, and a train with a built-in triple silk organza underskirt. It featured a double-bonded silk cady construction with only six seams. The dress was without lace or any other embellishments.

The simple white dress was revealed only when the bride got out of the car and entered St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle for the wedding service.

Waight Keller stated that the dress sought to convey modernity through sleek lines and sharp cuts while paying homage to the history of the Givenchy house. It was said to showcase a "timeless minimal elegance".

Markle chose Waight Keller because she wanted to highlight the success of a leading British talent who had served as the creative head of three globally influential fashion houses: Pringle of Scotland, Chloé, and Givenchy. She chose the designer for her elegant aesthetic and relaxed demeanour.

The veil was also embroidered with flowers representing the countries of the Commonwealth, the California poppy, and wintersweet, a flower that grows at Kensington Palace. It was 5 metres long and 3 metres wide, and took longer to create than the dress itself. The veil was hand-embroidered with a variety of flowers on its hem and symbolic sprays of wheat. It also included a piece of the blue dress from Markle's first date with Prince Harry.

Markle had two dresses, one for the ceremony and one for the reception. The second dress, designed by Stella McCartney, featured a high neck and was less traditional than the formal wedding gown.

The ceremony

The wedding ceremony commenced at noon local time and was an hour-long. The Dean of Windsor, David Conner, conducted the service, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, officiating the marriage. The sermon was delivered by Michael Curry, the presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, who quoted Martin Luther King Jr. and emphasised the redemptive property of love.

The wedding service was conducted according to the Christian liturgy for Holy Matrimony, as set out in Common Worship of the Church of England. The marriage vows were also published in Common Worship and included the promise "to love and to cherish" each other. The couple sealed their vows by exchanging rings. After signing the registers, they sang the national anthem with the guests and briefly paused to bow and curtsey to the Queen before walking down the aisle.

Hymns sung at the wedding included "Lord of All Hopefulness" and "Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer," a favourite of Harry's late mother, Princess Diana, and the opening hymn at William's wedding in 2011. Music was provided by two choirs, an orchestra, the chapel organ, and fanfare trumpeters. The orchestra was composed of musicians from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. The Choir of St George's Chapel was joined by the Kingdom Choir, a gospel group that sang "Stand By Me" during the ceremony.

The reception

The first reception was hosted by the Queen and took place in St George's Hall after the carriage procession. Singer Elton John performed for the guests, and the groom and the Prince of Wales each gave a speech. A second reception at Frogmore House, for family and close friends, was hosted by the Prince of Wales later in the day. Harry drove his new wife to the reception in a loaned silver-blue Jaguar E-Type Concept Zero.

For the evening reception, the Duchess of Sussex wore a halter-neck, open-back dress by Stella McCartney and an emerald-cut aquamarine ring that formerly belonged to Diana, Princess of Wales. George Northwood was her hairstylist for the private party. In a break with tradition, the bride made a speech at the event. The Duke of Cambridge also gave a best man's speech. DJ Idris Elba and The Atlantic Soul Orchestra performed at the event. Elba, who was invited by Harry, notably played "Still D.R.E." at Meghan's request during the reception. The setlist given to him by Meghan also included Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody". The event ended with small fireworks displayed above Frogmore House.

Frequently asked questions