Despite the fact that the Royal Wedding took place in the early hours of Saturday morning, it still didn’t deter 29.2 million Americans from turning in to watch the live ceremony.

Americans love a Royal Wedding.

This fact was proved last Saturday morning as more than 29 million Americans tuned in to watch the Royal Nuptials of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. In comparison, the audience number was at 23 million when Prince William wed Kate Middleton wed back in 2011.

In addition to leaving his elder brother behind in absolute numbers, Prince Harry took the lead over Prince Willian in household numbers as well. His wedding attracted 23.7 million households in America – compared to the 18.6 million which were attracted to William and Kate’s wedding in 2011.

The Royal Wedding not only dominated American television networks but it also ruled the roost on social media. Around 6.9 million interactions were carried out on Facebook and Twitter about the incoming Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Of the major networks that were broadcasting the wedding live in the US, the NBC owned ABC and CBS drew an audience of 17.6 million between 6 AM and 9 AM EST. The Comcast-owned network, meanwhile, finished second with 6.4 million viewers, with Disney-owned networks finishing third with an audience of 6.34 million viewers.

As for the cable networks, Fox News was a clear winner as 2.036 million people tuned in to the Rupert Murdoch-owned network to watch the Royal nuptials.

Prince Harry and American-born former Hollywood actress Meghan Markle tied the knot in a ceremony at the Windsor Castle, where more than 100,000 people lined the streets to greet them.

The guest celebrities that were invited to the Royal Wedding included David and Victoria Beckham, Oprah Winfrey, George and Amal Clooney, Idris Elba, Serena Williams, James Corden, and Markle’s co-stars from ‘’Suits’’.

The wedding also included a ‘’power of love’’ sermon from Bishop Michael Curry and a dazzling ‘’Stand By Me’’ performance by Karen Gibson and the Kingdom Choir.

The couple won’t be taking off for a honeymoon yet, as they are going to attend a charity garden party by Prince Charles, heir to the throne, on Tuesday evening at the Buckingham Palace.

Previous instances of Royal Wedding proves that America loves it and now that the bride is an American, the American media has gone into a never-seen-before frenzy.

America is always infatuated with a Royal Wedding.

And now that it involves an American actress, major networks have gone into overdrive to create huge marketing and programming opportunities for the American media.

So overhyped is the Royal Wedding that ‘’Today”, a morning television which is on-air on NBC since 1952, has announced it will be showing nothing but the Royal Wedding all week.

‘’Today’’ is not the only show which aims to cash-in on the popularity of the Royal Wedding among the American public. Nearly all major news channels, as well as newspapers, are sending their best anchors to the Windsor Castle in an effort to capture the tradition that will be on display on May 19th.

As for lifestyle and entertainment networks, they have recorded specials such as ‘’A Royal Romance’’ and ‘’An American princess’’ to lure the audiences to their television screens. Like their news-showing counterparts, these networks will also be showing live coverage of the big day on Saturday.

While the nationality of Meghan has also played its part to increase the appeal of the already over-hyped Royal Wedding, it’s her background which has made the wedding a bonanza for the American media. For, Meghan is a biracial, divorced woman whose wedding with Prince Harry simply would not have been possible a few decades ago.

Therefore, the welcome which the Royal family has given to her by giving the man who is sixth in line to the throne is a bellwether sign of how the modern-day monarchy has evolved. And for the American public which has grown fed-up of almost daily scandals coming out of Washington, the Royal Wedding serves as a brilliant distraction.

In addition to NBC, TLC is also banking on the Royal Wedding to set straight its audience numbers. It will be airing three hours of documentaries on Friday Night – “Secrets of the Royal Wedding,” “Meghan Markle: A Royal Love Story,” and “Prince Harry: Wild No More.”

Then, after capturing the main event live on Saturday from 5 a.m. – 9 a.m. ET, it will be airing a recap special late Saturday night with a panel of style and wedding experts invited from its other shows.

Still, while networks have been planning for months on how to cover the wedding, a certain amount of unpredictability which always surrounds a live event is related to the Royal Wedding as well. That unpredictability, in turn, might increase the appeal of the occasion for the viewers.

In retrospect, the Royal Wedding would cost more than the annual budget of World Anti-Doping Agency, which has a $32 million budget for 2018.

The world is waiting for the Royal Wedding, and it seems the Royals have left no stone unturned – and no penny unspent – in their mission to make the Royal Wedding as grand as possible.

Wedding planning company Bridebook, after calculating the money that would be spent on food, entertainment, bride’s dress, and flowers, have estimated that the Royal Wedding would cost the British exchequer a staggering £32million.

If that wasn’t enough to antagonize the British taxpayer, here’s another fact. Bridebook has also estimated that if their estimate proves to be true, the Royal Wedding would earn a place on the list of top ten most expensive weddings ever, replacing Kate and William’s wedding which cost £20million.

With nearly a million pounds to be spent on Meghan’s dress, food, drinks, and the flowers – experts say the bulk of the money will be spent on the security of guests which will attend the wedding. That, despite the fact that Kensington Palace hasn’t invited any Head of State to the wedding.

Other areas where the money will be spent includes the Windsor Castle, as it will be locked down for the whole day with a heavy contingent of police put in place. Some money, however, will also be spent to control the crowd and to place restrictions on restaurants and shops.

The security measures that will be put in place to ensure the safety of guests include undercover military tech, undercover police, snipers, and counter-drone systems. Bridebook estimates that it is these extra security measures which might take the cost north of £30million.

In case you are wondering, the security bill of Harry and Meghan’s wedding will be more than that of Kate and William’s. That is, because, the terrorist level which exists today wasn’t the same during the last Royal Wedding.

Cost Breakdown – Bridebook Estimate

20 Silver-plated trumpets which will announce the event will cost £90,000.

Lemon Elderflower Cake that would be brought in from Violet Bakery in East London, to cost £50,000.

Flowers that will decorate the Windsor Castle’s St George Chapel and St George’s Great Hall will cost £110,000.

Glass marquee that will greet the guests on evening reception, to cost £300,000.

Security measures to cost £30million.

Meghan’s dress will cost between £300,000 and £400,000.

Sausage Rolls for 2,640 public invitees to the Royal Wedding to cost £26,000