Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral: American TV Coverage

2012 Getty Images; Copyright Eddie Mulholland

On Monday, Sept. 19, the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, the former titular head of the United Kingdom who reigned for a record 70 years and 214 days before her passing on Sept. 8 at the age of 96, will be held at London’s famed Westminster Abbey, following four days of her coffin lying-in-state at Westminster Hall. The British royal family, including the queen’s eldest son, King Charles III, and his wife, Camilla, now the Queen Consort, will gather to pay their respects to the late queen. Joining them will be leaders from around the world, including President Joe Biden.

While this day is obviously not a national holiday in the United States as it will be in Britain, there is still massive interest among American viewers in watching the events surrounding the queen’s funeral, and in the British royals in general. Given that, several U.S. outlets will be covering the funeral to some degree throughout the day, and in the days leading up to it. Below are some of the places where U.S. viewers can watch Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral, and various programming related to the queen and the royals. (Post will be updated as new programming info becomes available.)

(Note to those who want to watch the funeral live: The service is slated to begin at 11am British Summer Time, which is five hours ahead of America’s Eastern Daylight Time, so you’ll need to get up early or set your DVR.)

QUEEN ELIZABETH II STATE FUNERAL: U.S. TV COVERAGE (ALL TIMES EASTERN)

ABC

• Celebrating Queen Elizabeth II — Monday, Sept. 19, beginning at 5:30am Live. David Muir and Robin Roberts will lead ABC News’ coverage of the queen’s funeral, and Muir will anchor a special edition of World News Tonight from London later on Monday. GMA3: What You Need to Know will also originate from London on that day, with T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach anchoring the program following coverage of the queen’s funeral. ABC News Live will have coverage throughout the weekend, capturing the moments and events ahead of the state funeral. Anchors Diane Macedo and Kyra Phillips will anchor throughout the day on Monday. The queen’s funeral will also be available to stream on ABC News Live.  

BBC America

• A Tribute to Her Majesty the Queen — Sunday, Sept. 18, from 8-9:30pm (encore from 11:30pm-1am). This tribute to the late monarch features special interviews with her children, those who have worked with her and public figures.
• Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral at Westminster Abbey — Monday, Sept. 19, from 4am-noon Live. 

Bloomberg Television

• Special Coverage: The Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II — Monday, Sept. 19, from 5-7:30am Live.

BritBox

• Good Morning Britain (Extended Coverage) — Sunday, Sept. 18, Monday, Sept. 19, and Tuesday, Sept. 20. BritBox, the streaming service offering British programming to American viewers, will broadcast ITV’s U.K. morning show (akin to Good Morning America in the U.S.), allowing insight into British reactions to events surrounding the queen’s funeral.
• The State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II — Monday, Sept. 19, beginning at 4:30am Live.

CBS

• CBS News Special Report — Monday, Sept. 19, beginning at 5:30am Live. CBS Mornings cohost Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell will anchor a CBS News special report live from London for coverage of the queen’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey. The special coverage will air on the CBS broadcast network and also be livestreamed on the CBS News Streaming network. The special coverage will also feature CBS News Royal Contributors Tina Brown, Julian Payne, Roya Nikkhah, Amanda Foreman and former BBC Royal Correspondent Wesley Kerr.

CNBC

• Valerie Castro, correspondent for The News With Shepard Smith, will be in London with coverage of the funeral on Monday, Sept. 19.

CNN

• The State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II — Monday, Sept. 19, from 5am-1pm Live. CNN anchors Erin Burnett and Anderson Cooper will be live from London for the network’s live coverage of the funeral. They will be joined by Christiane Amanpour, Max Foster and Richard Quest in London, with Don Lemon offering perspective from New York. CNN will have reporters throughout London, including at Westminster Abbey and along the procession route, as well as at Windsor Castle. CNN Royal Commentator Sally Bedell Smith and CNN Contributor Trisha Goddard will weigh in with their expert analysis and insights. The network will be livestreaming its coverage from 5am-1pm without requiring a cable log-in; the stream will be available on cnn.com and via CNN’s apps.

C-SPAN

• Funeral Service for Queen Elizabeth II — Monday, Sept. 19, from 5:30-10:30am Live. 

FOX News Channel

• FNC Special Programming — Monday, Sept. 19, beginning at 4am. FOX News Media will continue to present live coverage of the ceremonies and proceedings commemorating the life of Queen Elizabeth II leading up to and through the funeral. FOX News Channel executive editor and anchor of The Story, Martha MacCallum, will continue lead of the network’s coverage live from London. Live special coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral proceedings will preempt FOX & Friends through 9am. Anchoring from The Canada Gate at Buckingham Palace, MacCallum will be joined by FOX & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt and TalkTV’s (News UK) Uncensored host Piers Morgan as the queen is laid to rest. Live reporting and contributions will also be provided from London across FNC’s daytime and primetime programming by FNC correspondents Greg Palkot, Amy Kellogg, Jonathan Hunt and Alex Hogan. Additionally, FOX Nation’s new content surrounding the historic news event includes Queen Elizabeth II: For the Love of Country, and the documentaries Fox Nation 101: British Monarchy and Who Is Prince Charles?

HLN

• CNN Special Report: Queen for the Ages: Elizabeth II — Monday, Sept. 19, at 4am. An hourlong look at Queen Elizabeth II’s long reign.
• The State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II — Monday, Sept. 19, from 5-7am Live. Simulcast of CNN’s initial two hours of live coverage.

MSNBC

• The Constant Queen — Saturday, Sept. 17, at 10pm. NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel anchors this hourlong special that examines how people in the United Kingdom are processing the news of the queen’s passing, and the power she wielded during her decades on the throne. The program will also feature an interview with former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair about the queen’s approach to politics and a look at the future of the royal family with King Charles III now at the helm.
• Special coverage of the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II — Monday, Sept. 19, beginning at 3am live. MSNBC’s coverage will start with Chris Jansing anchoring special coverage live from London. At 5am, cohosts Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist, joined by Katty Kay, will anchor a special edition of Morning Joe from London. Beginning at 10am, Andrea Mitchell, Katy Tur and Chris Jansing continue special coverage through the end of the funeral services.

NBC

• NBC News Special: The Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II — Monday, Sept. 19, beginning at 5:30am Live. NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Lester Holt will anchor special live coverage of the funeral services for Queen Elizabeth II. Anchoring from Westminster Abbey, they will be joined by NBC News anchors and correspondents from across the U.K., including Tom Llamas, Keir Simmons, Kelly Cobiella and Molly Hunter, as well as contributors Wilfred Frost, Daisy McAndrew and Andrew Roberts. Additionally, Holt will anchor that evening’s NBC Nightly News live from London at 6:30pm. TODAY.com and NBCNews.com will livestream the network’s special coverage.

NewsNation

• Special Report: Remembering Queen Elizabeth — Monday, Sept. 19, from 6am-12pm Live. Live coverage from London.

PBS

Check local listings for your PBS affiliate to see if they are matching the national television schedule. The programming will also be streamed on pbs.org and on the PBS Video app.

• The State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II — Monday, Sept. 19, from 4am-noon Live. PBS offers an eight-hour live, uninterrupted feed of the BBC’s coverage of the funeral.
• The State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II: Events of the Day — Monday, Sept. 19, from 8-9:30pm.

Note: PBS’ special coverage of the Queen’s funeral on Sept. 19 will cause an adjustment to the broadcast schedule of the new, three-part documentary film from co-director Ken Burns, The U.S. and the Holocaust. It will still premiere Sunday, Sept. 18, at 8pm. However, Part 2 will now air Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 8pm, and Part 3, the concluding installment, will now air Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 8pm.

 

Telemundo

• Isabel II: Adiós a la reina — Monday, Sept. 19, beginning at 5am Live.

True Royalty TV

• The Royal Beat: Queen Elizabeth II: A Tribute. True Royalty TV, a subscription video on demand service dedicated to all things related to the royal family, produced a special edition of its biweekly talk show The Royal Beat dedicated to the late queen, and is making it available to subscribers and non-subscribers alike. Hosted by Kate Thornton, this special features royal experts Wesley Kerr OBE, Vanity Fair’s Royal Correspondent Katie Nicholl, and The Sun’s royal photographer Arthur Edwards, who look back at Elizabeth’s seven-decade reign. Throughout the special, viewers will get a look at historical footage taken from True Royalty TV’s vast library of documentary films. The service also has a number of curated documentaries about the queen (these are available through subscription).