Royal Wedding '˜a hit' with over 13m TV viewers

Over 13m viewers watched on as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after their wedding ceremony in Windsor. Picture: Danny Lawson/pool photo via AP

The Royal Wedding was a hit with TV viewers, smashing records for the year so far.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s big day was watched by a peak of 13.1 million, just after 1pm, on BBC1, making it the biggest peak figure so far in 2018.

The public broadcaster’s coverage, led by Kirsty Young, Huw Edwards and Dermot O’Leary, beat ITV, which peaked at 3.6 million around an hour later at 2pm.

The combined average audience, for BBC and ITV, was around 11 million.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding in 2011 enjoyed a higher combined audience of 17.6 million, according to consolidated figures, but that number included people watching on catch-up.

Charles and Diana’s wedding was watched by more than 28 million in 1981.