Royal Wedding Draws Huge Ratings in U.S.

9:09 PM PDT 4/30/2011 by Annie Yuan

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John Stillwell/AFP/Getty Images

More U.S. viewers watched Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding on Friday than they did Prince Charles and Diana's wedding in 1981.

The ratings are in for Prince William and Kate Middleton's Friday nuptials, and they're fitting of a king.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the wedding coverage, which 11 networks aired live between 6 and 7:15 a.m. EST Friday morning, drew a total 22.8 million viewers and 18.6 million households in the U.S. Networks that aired the event were ABC, CBS, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, BBC America, CNN, E!, FOX News, MSNBC and TLC.

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The figure is significantly higher than that of Prince Charles' wedding to Diana, which drew 14.2 million households in 1981, and Prince Charles' wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles, which was only seen in 3.2 million households.

In the U.K., approximately 24 million British viewers tuned in to see the ceremony, just shy of the numbers for Prince Charles and Diana's wedding. BBC, ITV and Sky News aired Friday's event.