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On 29 April 2011, viewers across the world can watch television, tune into radio and go to for coverage of the biggest royal wedding of the century- the marriage of HRH Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton. It's an event that is expected to attract a global audience of over a billion people* and, in addition to coverage on the day, the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ's international news services has a line-up of special content and programming in the build-up to the event.

On the day of the Royal Wedding, Friday 29 April, on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World News Mishal Husain hosts live coverage from outside Buckingham Palace between 0700 and 1800 (GMT) including the screening of the live and uninterrupted ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ coverage of the service and its aftermath, featuring expert commentators, special guests and live coverage of the wedding ceremony and the celebrations. ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service also broadcasts live commentary from the wedding ceremony and highlights from the day plus a The World Today wedding special on the day. World Have Your Say airs, on both World Service (18.00) and World News (1500), to bring audiences around the world together to discuss the day's events. ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ.com shows live streaming of the ceremony from 10.45 to 13.45 (BST).

Special content and programmes in the run-up to the Royal Wedding are as follows:

ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World News:

Royal Wedding Witness - from 1 April, four weekly editions of Witness take a uniquely personal perspective on major royal stories from history. The marriage ofΒ Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier features in an edition on Hollywood and Royalty; whilst the enduring union of Edward and Wallace Simpson forms the backdrop to a programme on Divorce and Royalty. The marriage of HRH Prince Charles and Princess Diana is the focus of a third edition,which looks at the making of a global icon, and a fourth programme looks at the controversial marriage between the son of Botswana chief, Sir Seretse Khama, and Englishwoman Ruth Williams.

One Square Mile - regular strand , One Square Mile, explores neighbourhoods all around the globe.Β Four special Royal Wedding episodes talk to people from towns and cities in the four countries that make up the United Kingdom to find out what people think about the forthcoming event.Β 

UK Wedding Reports - t hroughout April, ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World News presenter Mishal Husain hosts a new weekly programme, UKΒ Wedding Reports, giving viewers a unique insight to everything happening in the build-up to the big day.

Extreme World: Weddings – On 14 April the Extreme World series takes a look at weddings around the world and specifically at examples of the most expensive and the most modest weddings. A report on a wedding in Tajikistan where the government imposes strict limitations on wedding cost and size, is contrasted with a more extravagant celebration in Sri Lanka – the report examines why so many people spend so much on their special day. Audiences are invited to contribute pictures and accounts of the most unusual weddings they've been involved in.

ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service :

For King or Country? - two-part documentary, For King or Country?, examines the case for and against monarchy as a form of government. The first part, presented by Mona Abou Jeib Broshammar of the Swedish Republican Association, examines the attitude to monarchy in Sweden , home to one of the world's oldest, and yet most modernised, courts, where the succession is gender-neutral and royal palaces are open to the public. Mona asks why - in view of all this - a growing number of people are opposed to keeping the King as head of state.

The second, presented by Anthony McAlister of the International Monarchist League's LA Chapter, looks at attitudes towards monarchy in the United States - a country whose very creation involved rejecting kingship. Surprisingly enough, there are some people living under America 's republican constitution who believe that monarchy would be preferable, even today.

Pomp & Matrimony - documentary Pomp & Matrimony looks back through the archive of royal weddings. From the news coverage of the 1923 wedding of the future King George VI to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, through their daughter, the young Princess Elizabeth's marriage to the dashing Phillip of Greece, to the moment Lady Diana Spencer stepped out of the glass coach, the programme looks back at the glamour, the gossip, the spectacle and the romance.

Witness - the special Witness programmes (see details above) broadcast from 31 March.

The Forum - in a Royal Wedding special edition of The Forum , broadcasting on the weekend of 16 and 17 April , Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London , discusses rulers and the ruled and asks if monarchy prevents subjects from being fully engaged as citizens. Bangladeshi novelist and anthropologist, Tahmima Anam, talks about kinship, family and relationships, and Australian psychologist, Dorothy Rowe, argues that the recipe for a long and satisfactory marriage is for the couple to be very good friends.

Outlook – i n the run-up to the Royal Wedding, Outlook hears from some of the world's β€˜Wedding Makers' - the A-list Hollywood photographer, the Zimbabwean bride-price negotiator and the Indian animal handler. These people all play a vital part in making sure the bride and groom's day is perfect. In the three programmes, Peter Bowes meets the celebrated Hollywood wedding photographer Joe Buissink; Steve Vickers is taken to a traditional marriage ceremony in Harare where Iobola (a bride price) is paid and meets Gift, the man responsible for negotiating the price; and Suhail Haleem meets an animal handler who provides either an elephant or a white horse for Hindu weddings in Delhi.

Royal Wedding Daily - every week day, from 18 April to 28 April, three-minute updates give the latest news in the lead-up to the Royal Wedding.

Britain 's Royal Wedding - on 30 April, the day after the Royal Wedding, there will be an hour-long programme with all the highlights from the special day.

ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ.com

ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ.com has extended its lead-up coverage of the Royal Wedding with an interactive portal at .Β  The site offers audiences a selection of unique experiences, not found anywhere else on the web.Β 

A comprehensive β€˜Guide to the Occasion' a dedicated video archive of previous royal weddings sheds light on the fascinating history of Royal marriages, starting from the marriage of George VI on 26 April 1923.Β  An interactive map of the processional route showcases some of London 's most famous landmarks. Β This includes Buckingham Palace , where after the ceremony the wedding party will gather on the balcony to wave at the crowds.

Timeline biographies of Prince William and Kate Middleton provide a colourful source of information on their lives before and after meeting. Β A stream of video news clips look at subjects including the wedding cake and horse-drawn carriage that will transport the couple from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace .Β  On the wedding day itself, bbc.com/royalwedding streams the service and procession live, to audiences around the world.Β 

ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Worldwide Channels

The Royal Wedding provides ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Worldwide Channels with its first global viewing event.Β  The ceremony is streamed live to audiences in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia through ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Entertainment, ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Knowledge, ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ America and UKTV. A number of related documentaries and entertainment programmes air on local schedules in the run-up to the big day, including Royally Mad , an original commission from ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ America hosted by Cat Deeley.

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