Hosting the royal wedding

What is your role on the day,what can viewers expect?
My role on the day is to anchor the coverage from our studio outside Buckingham Palace,to introduce viewers worldwide to what is going on,to explain what the event is and to convey a sense of the excitement. And of course,there is a team of very experienced presenters and correspondents working with me,covering all kinds of aspects of the day from history and pageantry and music to the fashions,cookery and flower arranging – all kinds of things. It is a big team effort,but I am very flattered to be at the centre of that team.

How do you feel knowing that you will be watched by millions,potentially billions,across the world? Is it daunting?
Every broadcast is important and you want to get each one right. But I think it is fair to say that when you approach a broadcast of this size,with this kind of projected audience,it brings different kinds of pressures. And when you know the eyes of the world are on what you are covering it does put an even bigger responsibility on your shoulders,but I am very flattered to be asked to do it and I am determined that we do a good job. The BBC team want people watching to enjoy the coverage. That’s the priority and to do justice to what is a big celebration,that is our goal at the end of the day.

Has there been any royal protocol which you have needed to think about or follow?
It is a big formal royal event and these things do follow certain patterns and there are certain rules. It is a royal wedding,it is happening in Westminster Abbey,the Queen is involved,so that brings the formality up to a maximum. Our job really is to respect those royal guidelines,but also to make the coverage as accessible as possible and also informative and entertaining. There is a balance to be struck between the two.

What memories do you have of previous royal weddings?
The first royal wedding I can remember clearly was that of Princess Anne,back in 1973. I was 11 years old and I remember it very clearly because actually it was one of the first big events on television that was covered in colour,which dates it slightly,but I do remember watching it with my mum and sister and enjoying the event. I’ve seen all the royal weddings since then – Charles and Diana in 1981 and Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew in 1986 — and they have all been very big enjoyable state occasions. And I think what we need to do as broadcasters in 2011 is to make our coverage as modern and as energetic as possible but to clearly do justice to all the state pageantry and ceremony which goes with it.

What preparations have you been doing for the broadcast?
I’ve already been preparing for three months,watching lots of tapes of previous weddings,many hours of tapes actually because all of these events take five or six hours to broadcast,so when you start watching them time and again it is a lot of viewing. But it is worthwhile because you begin to understand in some detail how these events work. That is very important for me on the day just to understand the logistics and the timings. And on top of that,there is all the research to do on who is taking part this time,the key characters,the people behind the scenes because viewers like to have additional information. They want to know more about the event and they want to know what’s gone on before the event has happened. It helps them to understand and enjoy the event even more.

Have you picked up any tips from watching past royal weddings which you will use on the day?
You do pick up plenty of tips when you watch previous coverage,some of the tips are to do with a successful way of describing something,especially to do with strict ceremony when the forms of words have to be very precise. You can pick up tips too,of course,about how not to do things — that’s absolutely true as well! I think the main thing that I have learnt is the commentator should speak when there is something useful to be said and something that can be added that is of interest to viewers. There are times when the images are powerful and they speak for themselves,and you really don’t need to say anything at all.