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Here's how to watch the Royal Wedding without cable

Watching the Royal Wedding without putting pants on sounds better than being there, TBH.
By Leah Stodart  on 
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Here's how to watch the Royal Wedding without cable
You're cordially invited to Saturday's Windsor Castle festivities — from your couch, at least. Credit: wikipedia commons

This Saturday, May 19, the greatly anticipated Royal Wedding will take place in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle in England. And we are cordially invited, y'all.

Okay, we technically won't physically be there because Prince Harry and Meghan Markle technically don't know that we exist. But thanks to numerous TV providers and channels providing live coverage, we'll still be able to attend vicariously — while sitting our asses on the couch. Close enough.

And you don't even need to bum a password off of someone or have cable to watch it. Because we've all mastered the art of signing up for and cancelling free trials by now, and it's about to get you the royal treatment.

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Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon will be hosting the events live on HBO. Credit: hbo

As Will Ferrell/Cord Hosenbeck says, “There will be more luxury packed into that church than all the Bed, Bath & Beyonds combined.”

Here's when you should be tuning in:

  • ABC: Live coverage starts at 5 am ET

  • CBS: Live coverage starts at 4 am ET, with two hour special: Royal Romance: The Marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, at 8 pm ET

  • NBC News/MSNBC: Live coverage starts at 4:30 am ET

  • BBC America: Live coverage starts at 4:15 am ET

  • CNN: Live coverage starts at 4 am ET

  • E!: Live coverage starts at 5 am ET, with recap: E! Royal Wedding Rundown at 7 pm ET

  • FOX News: Live coverage starts at 5 am ET

  • HBO: Live coverage starts at 7:30 am ET

  • PBS: Live coverage starts at 4 am ET

  • TLC: Live coverage starts at 5 am ET

Now that you know which channels you'll need, here's where you can access them without dropping a penny (because we're just mere peasants trying to save money):

CBS All Access

CBS will begin their live coverage at 4 am ET, live on TV and online with CBSN. If you sign up for a CBS All-Access free one-week trial, you'll be able to watch the live stream. Then, just cancel your account before the trial period is up, so you don't get charged $5.99 or $9.99 (depending on whether you chose the ads or no ads option). CBS All Access is a pretty good gig, though — you'll be able to stream 10,000+ episodes and watch live TV 24/7, so you'll never have to deal with spoilers again.

HBO Go or HBO NOW

Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon (AKA Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan) will be hosting a live broadcast of the festivities on HBO. The live stream will be available on both HBO GO and HBO NOW (HBO GO isn on-demand streaming service similar to a Netflix subscription, while HBO NOW is more similar to DirecTV in that it's a streaming service that requires a cable or satellite TV package with HBO). You can sign up for a free one-month trial of HBO NOW here — and then it's $14.99/month after that if you forget to cancel.

You can also use your Hulu account to watch the live stream on HBO, as it's one of the channels available on Hulu. To sign up for a one-week trial of Hulu with live TV, go here. Because this package includes live TV, it's $39.99/month instead of Hulu's regular $7.99 — so make a reminder to cancel.

DirecTV NOW

DirecTV NOW is DirecTV's no-dish-needed streaming service, which basically means you get everything that DirecTV offers without the hassle of setting up a satellite. A subscription to DirecTV NOW offers a ton of channels, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, TLC, and BBC America — all of which will have live coverage of the Royal Wedding.

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You can get a free one-week trial of the 60+ live channel package, which will cost $35/month after the week is up. DirecTV also offers more expensive packages with up to 120 channels, including premium channels like HBO, STARZ, and SHOWTIME for an extra fee. Plus, when you prepay $35 for your first month, DirecTV will throw in a free Roku streaming stick on them.

SlingTV

We're sure you've already heard, but SlingTV has also been a huge player in the cord cutting game as it's one of the more affordable monthly options out there. For $25/month, it offers 45+ live channels including BBC America, FOX, and NBC, which, you guessed it, will be covering the Royal Wedding.

fuboTV

Hey, sports fans: If you're tryna watch the Royal Wedding and also follow sports like your life depends on it, fuboTV is a streaming bundle gaining major traction from sports fans in recent months. Get 85 channels with live sports, shows, and movies (did we mention sports?), including NBC, FOX, CBSN, and BBC America — all Royal Wedding channels. Sign up for a one-week free trial to try out the selection and watch the wedding, and if you like it, just pay $19.99 for your first month (and $44.99/month after that).

Topics Celebrities

Leah Stodart
Leah Stodart
Senior Shopping Reporter

Leah Stodart is a Philadelphia-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable where she covers essential home tech like vacuums and TVs as well as sustainable swaps and travel. Her ever-growing experience in these categories comes in clutch when making recommendations on how to spend your money during shopping holidays like Black Friday, which Leah has been covering for Mashable since 2017.

Leah graduated from Penn State University in 2016 with dual degrees in Sociology and Media Studies. When she's not writing about shopping (or shopping online for herself), she's almost definitely watching a horror movie, "RuPaul's Drag Race," or "The Office." You can follow her on X at @notleah or email her at [email protected].


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