Why the BBC refuses to air Princess Eugenie’s wedding live

Princess Eugenie and fiancé Jack Brooksbank’s wedding will televised, but maybe not as much as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. A report claims the BBC, which aired the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s big day live in May, has refused to air Eugenie’s wedding, frustrating her father, Prince Andrew.

According to the Mail on Sunday, the Duke of York tried to strike a deal with the public service broadcaster. He wanted his younger daughter’s special day to be televised. But ultimately, Andrew was denied because the Yorks were apparently not as popular as the Sussexes.

“The BBC was approached because they have a special relationship with Buckingham Palace and a formula that works,” a source told the paper. “But they turned it down because they don’t think enough people will tune in and that there isn’t enough support for the Yorks.

“The feeling at the Palace is that the BBC has dropped the ball.”

The BBC has since said it would provide clips of Eugenie and Jack’s wedding on their news channels, telling express.co.uk, “There will be news coverage of the wedding across our services.”

Sky is also reportedly planning to show short clips of the event. ITV, on the other hand, is allegedly planning to air a full coverage.

Eugenie’s massive wedding is apparently going to be bigger than Harry and Meghan’s. As Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter, the princess enjoys certain privileges, but she doesn’t share in the privy purse as she does not have official royal duties. Her parents, Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, will pay for the two-day wedding party, while the Queen will be covering the cost of the reception. Nevertheless, the public will be paying for the security in the event, which will reportedly cost close to £2 million (AU$3.64 million).