{"id":11251,"date":"2018-05-16T11:09:58","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T15:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-specials-fit-royalty\/"},"modified":"2018-06-11T17:44:40","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T21:44:40","slug":"tv-specials-fit-for-royalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-specials-fit-for-royalty\/","title":{"rendered":"TV Specials Fit for Royalty"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle prepare to walk down the aisle, <\/em>TV Real checked in with producers and distributors to get the scoop on special programming about the lovebirds and the British royal family at large.<\/em><\/p>\n

Wedding bells are ringing, and they have a royal pitch to them. For years, the British royal family has captivated the imaginations of common folk the world over, perhaps more so than any other family of noble lineage. It\u2019s no wonder, then, that the television industry has hopped on the royal bandwagon to generate timely specials in the run-up to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle\u2019s wedding, which will take place on Saturday, May 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a huge affection for Harry; people love him and they loved his mother,\u201d Ian Rumsey, the director of TV production at ITN Productions, tells TV Real<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In the U.K., ITV commissioned a number of one-offs and documentary series to mark the event. The hour-long Prince Harry\u2019s Story: \"***Image***\"Four Royal Weddings\u2026<\/em>, distributed globally by all3media international, looks at Prince Harry\u2019s life through key turning points\u2014four royal weddings and the tragic and untimely death of his mother. \u201cCurrently, Prince Harry\u2019s Story: Four Royal Weddings\u2026<\/em> is the biggest selling royal show (gross per hour) we have on our books,\u201d notes Maartje Horchner, all3media international\u2019s executive VP of content.<\/p>\n

Another ITV pickup from all3media international\u2019s distribution catalog is the two-part documentary Royal Wives of Windsor<\/em>. The docuseries explores the lives of some of the women who married into the House of Windsor over the last century. It looks at how these women, including Princess Diana, Sarah Ferguson, Camilla Parker Bowles and the Duchess of Cambridge, have transformed the royal family.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople simply cannot get enough details about [the British royal family\u2019s] lives, the castles, the pomp, the traditions,\u201d says Natalka Znak, the founder and president of Znak & Co, which produced the special Meghan Markle: An\u00a0<\/em>American Princess<\/em> with Spun Gold TV. FOX in the U.S. aired the two-hour program about the bride-to-be\u2019s life and potential legacy earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Other U.S. networks are also getting in on the action. Tonight, NBC will broadcast ITN Productions\u2019 Inside the Royal Wedding: Harry and Meghan<\/em>. Hosted by\u00a0Today<\/em>\u00a0anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, the special offers viewers an exclusive glimpse into the couple\u2019s romance. Close friends share the story of how they fell in love, while experts involved in planning the wedding and previous nuptials explain what it takes to stage an event on this scale.<\/p>\n

The excitement surrounding this particular wedding is twofold. Not only will there be a beloved British royal standing at the altar of St. George\u2019s Chapel, but the world\u2019s former most eligible bachelor will be joined by an American actress, and divorcee, no less.<\/p>\n

\u201cHollywood meets royals; it\u2019s always been a winning combination,\u201d says Mem Bakar, the senior sales manager of TCB Media Rights, which distributes several titles about the royal family, including Elizabeth<\/em> and The Private Lives of the Monarchs<\/em>. Prince Harry and his fianc\u00e9e \u201cboth have loyal fans around the world and have made headlines prior to their engagement announcement. They paint the picture of modern Britain, and the fact that Meghan Markle is quite well \"***Image***\"known due to her hit U.S. series [Suits<\/em>] allows U.S. viewers to have more of a vested interest in the upcoming wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n

TCB Media Rights also represents Modern Royals<\/em>. \u201cWe not only touch on the royal wedding but also explore how Prince William and Prince Harry, along with Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, have modernized the British royal family,\u201d Bakar explains. She notes that one-offs like Modern Royals<\/em> \u201cdo really well as they are easier to schedule,\u201d though the company has also seen success with multipart titles about the famous family.<\/p>\n

ITN Productions\u2019 Rumsey agrees that \u201cMeghan brings something very different\u201d to the table. \u201cShe\u2019s American, divorced, of mixed heritage. The combination of Hollywood glamor and everyone\u2019s favorite royal is irresistible\u2026. It beats anything you\u2019d see on TV. It\u2019s the world\u2019s longest-running soap opera. And then Meghan comes along and it\u2019s like a breath of fresh air, a brand-new character.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Americans, up until now, the monarchy\u2014although fascinating\u2014was a world away,\u201d says Znak & Co\u2019s Znak. \u201cThis marriage allows Americans to feel part of and share in the royal wedding experience in a way they never have before.\u201d<\/p>\n

And producers are honing in on the fact that Markle is an American. Alongside Znak & Co and Spun Gold TV\u2019s Meghan Markle: An American Princess<\/em>, there are specials such as Million Dollar American Princesses: Meghan Markle<\/em>, which aired this month on Smithsonian Channel in the U.S. and Canada.<\/p>\n

Daniela Neumann, the managing director of Spun Gold TV, notes that Markle is \u201cunlike any other woman to have married into the royal family in the past, and audiences are keen to see how she will be a breath of fresh air to modernize this British institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Markle walks down the aisle to become a princess, ITN Productions\u2019 Rumsey says, \u201cWe anticipate less of the traditional and a few very modern twists; there\u2019s a sense that they will do some things very differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

That, no doubt, is the inspiration behind Harry and Meghan: Royal Rebels<\/em>, which A+E Networks commissioned from Emporium Productions for Lifetime in the U.S. Airing earlier this week, the program counted down the most surprising rules of British royal weddings, revealing the traditions Prince Harry and Markle are updating and the ones they are disregarding altogether.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not only the British and Americans who crave royal-themed shows. As ITN Productions\u2019 Rumsey says, \u201cThe whole world will be watching.\u201d TCB\u2019s Bakar notes that the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Poland, the Nordics, Germany, France and Asia have shown some of the largest appetites for TV programming related to the wedding.<\/p>\n

But what is the key to making programs about the British royal family that will appeal to viewers across the globe?<\/p>\n

TCB\u2019s Bakar explains that \u201cThey need to be topical and relevant, but with a longer shelf life, as broadcasters would like to air reruns and they can lead to possible second-window sales.\u201d She believes that demand for programming about the royals will not \u201cfall off a cliff post-wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking documentaries with and about the royal family involves the same challenges as making any documentary in that you have to earn the trust of your subjects and tell a story that is authentic and revealing to appeal to a mainstream audience worldwide,\u201d says Oxford Films\u2019 chief executive and creative director, Nicolas Kent. \u201cTo mark the forthcoming wedding, we\u2019ve made Invitation to a Royal Wedding<\/em> for ITV.\u201d Distributed by Drive, the title \u201cuses the anticipation around this royal wedding to look into the secrets of earlier royal weddings such as that of Prince William and Kate Middleton.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always thinking of more royal programming ideas, whether related to an event or more generally,\u201d says Spun Gold\u2019s Neumann. And fans of the royals will undoubtedly be looking for more to watch after these latest lovebirds say, \u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Producers and distributors discuss programming focused on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding as well as the British royal family at large.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":477,"featured_media":11252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,69],"tags":[2954,2953],"class_list":["post-11251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","category-top-stories","tag-meghan-markle","tag-prince-harry","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nTV Specials Fit for Royalty - TVREAL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-specials-fit-for-royalty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TV Specials Fit for Royalty - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Producers and distributors discuss programming focused on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding as well as the British royal family at large.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-specials-fit-for-royalty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-16T15:09:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-06-11T21:44:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/07\/2018-05-16-Modern-Royals.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"322\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sara Alessi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sara Alessi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-specials-fit-for-royalty\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-specials-fit-for-royalty\/\",\"name\":\"TV Specials Fit for Royalty - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-16T15:09:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-11T21:44:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/3a30a856ec6d9cc2372bf054d26a0418\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-specials-fit-for-royalty\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-specials-fit-for-royalty\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/tv-specials-fit-for-royalty\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TV Specials Fit for Royalty\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\",\"name\":\"TVREAL\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/3a30a856ec6d9cc2372bf054d26a0418\",\"name\":\"Sara Alessi\",\"description\":\"Sara Alessi is the associate editor of World Screen. 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