themes and ideas driving this moment in history with really fascinating people. and don't forget to sbriern to that while hire because on tuesday we'll be dropping a brand new podcast with my absolute favorite, favorite, favorite podcast guest in the entire world. that is "all in" for theeng. a great good morning to you. welcome to msnbc's special coverage of the royal wedng. it is a beautiful dayn windsor, engla. hours from now, prince harry, the younger, often wilder royal will marry his american princess, an historic union of rules of class, race and nationality. you are looking live at st.

george's chapel where in, three hours meghan markle and daughter of an african-american woman will take place of the most historic family in the world. it's symbolism for the british and the americans as well as black people all over the world. i am joy reid joined by stephanie rule and katy tur who somehow lost their invites but have a front row seat to the facilities. stephanie, katy, good morning. set the scene for us. >> good morning. don't rule us out. elton john is going to take the two of us. >> we might crush it. >> a new rendition of the spice girls, the two of us. we have breaking, official royal news we have to share. the queen just sent out a royal proclamation and i quote, the

queen has been pleaseed to confirm a dukedom on prince harry, duke of sus sex, earl of dumbarton and baron kilkel. meghan will be the royal duchess. get your mind around this. a girl, born and raised in l.a., she becomes a princess. >> i was a girl born and raiseed in los angeles. >> you are my princess. >> i dreamed of marrying prince william. >> you did? >> i had a crush on him. >> i named a son harry. >> he married another kate. so close. the bride and groom are at separate hotels, resting up for the big day ahead of them.

we are watching cliveden house to see if there were movements there. there will be. have patience. >> around 11:00 our time, they will make their way. >> there's lots of bets on what the wedding dress will be, who the designer of the wedding dress is. it is changing literally by the hour. if you are into this thing -- >> a u.s. designer? a british designer. she likes classic with style and flair. who knows. >> this was yesterday. stephanie, you missed this. this is harry and william going on a walk about. they went out of the castle to greet the commoners who came out to greet them. there are a ton of americans in this crowd. the majority of accents i have heard have been american. itis almost as if i never left the states. >> think about it.

the monarchy, this is a huge point of pride for the brits. for crown superfans, we tllove e fantasy of this. whether or not prince harry is going to have stubble, on the walk about, it was a yes or no? >> he had stubble. we screamed, harry, are you going shave? he didn't answer. surprisingly. >> we set the stage for where we are, windsor castle thrks , thi 13-acre estate. this is more like her office. >> it's a giant, drafty office. >> indeed it is. st. george's chapel means so much to this family, where harry was christened. this is a 15th century building. i want to say there's ten monarchs buried there. >> she's going walk on the graves of monarchs down the

aisle. it's quite a sight to behold. there's a lot of history in this chapel, clearly, but a joyous day today. we may see a kiss on the west steps. usually, we would see that at buckingham palace if we were in london. we are outside of london. we will keep our eyes on that. >> harry was william's best man. william will be harries. there's no maid of honor. there will be ten, count them, ten children, the youngest age 2. >> you are bearing the lead, prince george and princess charlotte will be in the service. obviously, going to steal the show. >> prince louis won't be making it. joy, we have to say hi to the crowd. >> i am green with envy that you ladies are going to be there. if you get to the afterparty, don a fascinator for me.

here to help me celebrate here in new york on the big day, a trio of brits, martin lewis, columnist who contributed to the "huffington post." trish goddard, hosted a long talk show and camilla. we expanded to our anchor at people tv. let's go to you first, trish. give us a background on what to expect on the day. camilla, sorry, what should we expect that day. >> the excitement is building. there are crowds gathering. spontaneous screaming and cheering every ten minutes. everyone is so looking forward to that magical moment where meghan markle appears at noon

and the dress is unveiled. a lot of speculation about the dress, still no sign of who it could be. a great deal of guessing. we expect the future bride and groom to be getting ready, hanging around at their hotels. harry is with william, his best man. he looked very relaxed yesterday, chatting with the crowd, didn't seem like he had a care in the world. meghan, when asked how she was feeling by a journalist as she say rived at the wonderful cliveden hotel. happy to have her mother by her side. the picture is dominating the newspapers and the headlines say thg is a modern marriage, very forward thinking of an american actress and british prince. people are looking forward to seeing them in the ceremony, exchanging vows, then, of course, the carriage procession. that's why all the crowds have

gathered. they have taken place because they want to see the newlyweds in the flesh. >> very exciting. you covered the wedding of william and kate, camilla. give us a difference. this is in windsor, not london. set the stage for us on how is this a bit different, partly because harry's further down the line of succession, all this pressure on him. >> the geography is different. in london, it is more spread out. people are going about their daily business. in windsor, there's no other reason but to be in town, but for the nuptials. it's a very carnival atmosphere. it's tight knit. the spaces are closer. all the well wishers really are in touching distance of the bride and groom in the carriage procession. it's been like this all week. i came here on monday, there were already people camping out. i met americans from around the country in illinois, st. louis.

connecticut. loads of tourists. the americans feel like they have a player in the race. i think you looked at our royal family from a distance, now you have a stake in the family. i think that dynamic captured imagination. >> i want to bring in the panel in new york. i have to admit, as an american, i feel almost as if we are more obsessed with this wedding in a lot of ways than people in great britain. it is ironic. we did all this work to separate ourselves from the crown. now we are obsessed. is it partly, i'm going to come to you on this, it is partly for african-americans, it feels personal because of meghan. >> it is personal. she's an unlikely princess. she's biracial. she's a divorcee. she's an american. she's 36.

she's a few years older than him. all the facts about this woman make her the most unlikely person to be in this position, yet we are here celebrating meghan markle. >> with our tea. >> but i came for the scones. >> the scones will be coming out. >> thank you. >> my husband is a black britt. his family are not so much obsessed with it. do black britains have the same feeling, causing that emotion. >> they are not one huge group. my children are biracial. my daughter keeps getting mistaken for meghan markle. she put her hair in braids because she's sick of people saying why are you putting on that accent. there is a difference according to the generations.

i think people are really looking at this as a way to include biracial children because they are the biggest growing ethnic group in great britain. there's never been any representation. they feel lost. it's either black or white. my mom's wind rush generation after the war felt very much, no color. this is a young generation, you felt very, very included until brexit. i think this wedding is, for them, the biracial children, it's a recognition both colors can come together and co-exist. that's an important message. >> that's a direct legacy of princess diana. harry feels her legacy imbodied.

this wedding says that to me a bit. >> the amount of impact that princess diana had cannot be overstated. prior to her, everything was very, very stiff upper lip. the notion of being relaxed in public or having enlightened attitudes was difficult. when princess diana came in t british family supported charities, but safe, popular, charities. she embraced aids patients. this is when ronald reagan would not acknowledge there was aids and margaret thatcher famously said there is no such thing as society, the notion of community didn't exist and she went out there, supported aids charities and went live aid happened, raising funds for ethiopia, she went to the concert and supported it. what was seen in prince william

and prince harry is the legacy of princess diana modernizing and humanizing the royal family. >> i think people are invested in seeing harry happy. >> yes. >> we saw him go through a tumultuous time, very difficult teen years. we knew he was devastated by his mother's death. to see him at a place where he seems to have matured, he looks genuinely happy. we are all invested in this day in him. >> he's the fun one. we are going back to windsor now, back to stephanie rule and katy tur with updated infon the ceremony. >> hold on, i want to pick up on a point you are making on the investment people have on harry. they have seen the boys grow up and watch them go through such a traumatic time. they want them to be happy. they want harry to be as happy as will seems to be with kate. they want harry to have a family. they want to see him grow up and

have all the happiness and all the family members he wasn't able to have when he was a kid. i was talking to a cab driver about it. she said i'm happy he's marrying someone, anyone. more than anything, i want to see him smile. >> the royals, pull very, very high. people adore these boys. >> even if they don't like the royals, they like the sons. >> let's walk through the ceremony details. a lot has changed in a couple days. it started for you at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. it is going to last about an hour. william and kate's lasted 45 minutes. this could be 45 minutes to an hour. the dean of windsor, the spiritual head that is going to perform the service at the archbishop, head on the anglican church is going to do the vows. >> the most reverent michael bruce curry, the american head

of the episcopal church is going to incorporate her heritage and his british heritage at st. george's chapel. >> the happy ending of walking down the aisle. so much controversy and news that made all of our hearts break for meghan and her father not making it. who is going to walk her down the aisle? >> there was talk about her mom walking her down the aisle. we got waved off that. mom, apparently, didn't want to do that. so, the way it's going to go, as meghan walks up the steps, she goes down the knave, the first part of st. george's cathedral. she will be alone for that. her moment, walking alone. at the center of the cathedral, somebody is going to be waiting for her. who is that somebody going to be? >> prince charles. >> prince charles who has two sons, never had the chance to

walk anybody down the aisle. he is going to walk her down the aisle, deliver her to prince harry. >> this is a grand affair. st. george's chapel fits 800 people. by comparison, kate and william had 1900. >> how many people were at your wedding? >> about 200. yours was teeny tiny. >> mine was two. >> diane and charles had 3500 people. it was the wedding of the century. this seems big to us, but in comparison, it is small. we are going to talk about the people inside the grounds. >> it's so much fun. we are talking about something happy today. >> more than happy. here we are, it's royal wedding day. >> all right. thank you for much, ladies.

♪

welcome back to windsor. stephanie, i am so excited to be here. >> i am beyond honored. >> it's 4:00 a.m., for new york, at least. i am very excited to be here because this is an historic event. it's a big event not just for britains, but americans and people who didn't look like the royal family up until now. i talked to one girl yesterday,

and she was 12 years old. she was never really a royals fan until prince harry proposed to meghan markle. then she looked up and said, hey, that girl looks like me. take a look. what's it mean to you? >> it means a lot to me because if we actually think about it, it's like british royal heritage with african-american -- it means a lot to me because -- [ inaudible ] >> what do you like about meghan markle? >> i think she seems -- >> tell me whar, what do you li >> i like how she never stops chasing after her dreams.

she always went after -- she likes charity. >> does she inspire you to help? >> yes, definitely. >> this young girl was so excited to see meghan because she looks like her, she is biracial. she thought this was a really big move for the royal family to take it into the next stage of its relevancy. for her, it was like, oh, i can be a part of this, i can be part of this culture. they are going to accept me. it's not just a separate group

of people where i'm not invited. she was so excited. anybody who looks at meghan markle and wants to ding her for what she said because you have to be so proper in the family, they ha to go through me. meghan should be her, own it. she is amazing and confident and we all love you. >> without a doubt. inside the windsor castle barriers, it's not just royals, dignitaries and celebrities. there's 600 invited guests inside the chapel. on the grounds, more than 2,000 people. they have invited some, what you call common folk. people who are doing amazing charity work, some work on the royal grounds. that's special. >> we are commoners. >> we are going to picnic outside the chapel. one person won't be here, but her spirit will be. >> diana, obviously not going to be here. part of the beauty of the ceremony is she will be incorporated into it.

her sisters and her brother are going to be here. one of her sisters, we have never heard from before, will be giving a reading, which is exciting. the ring that meghan is wearing is two of diana's diamonds. >> if you have never heard the romance of harry and meghan, that was the first surprise trip he took her on. >> we have all sorts of details. >> remember, africa was a plaid, aids research. that ring represents his mother and heritage. >> not here in the flesh, but spirit. >> without a doubt. >> joy? >> wonderful details. you are capturing what we are talking about here on the panel, this idea that the royals really are modernizing. they are trying to incorporate more of great britain, more of british society, multiracial. we were talking on the panel earlier the fact that the wedding couldn't have taken place a while ago. the fact that meghan is a

divorcee and she is black. >> charles could only get married -- >> the second time. right. >> and only have the blessing because he is too close to, you know, in the line of inheriting the title. but, to have a divorcee actually get married, you have to have special permission. i mean, the second time of was it the third time i got married -- addiction to wedding, my excuse. no, one has to get permission. it's not always given. don't laugh. no, windsor, as well, is interesting what the ladies were saying. windsor is really tiny. i grew up around there, i know it really well. this whole thing will be a bit of a shock to windsor, actually. >> yeah. >> because the people who traditionally would come for a royal wedding, it's a different mix. a lot of americans. >> serena williams will be

there. >> exactly. >> people from "suits." >> and australians. harry spent his gap year in australia. there are a lot of australians there. this is an international, bringing together of people. >> a cultural shock. they are driving on the wrong side of the road. >> the right side. >> breaking tradition is what made diana the people's princess. the thing they have tried to do to mitigate that is giving more information about meghan's background. >> right. this is one of those regrettable things one doesn't want to go deeply into politics on a day like this. there is institutional racism in britain. we saw it manifested in brexit six months before trump's election. it was the same anti-immigrant sentiment that came up. just yesterday, in one of the

more conservative newspapers, they proudly proclaimed that meghan was distantly related to prince harry on her father's side. >> 17 cousins, to be exact. >> the subtext of it was, don't worry, she's one of us, you know, because of her father's line. there is still that. they dress it up to say isn't it cute, they are related. they are saying, this is a bloodline coming into the royal family. let us not forget it, they are a bunch of germans. lovely people. >> princess charlotte as well. we'll get into that. despite that, you have a modern woman, career woman, proactive about her charitable work. this is a modern princess. >> the fact she is so modern she is going to walk herself down

the aisle, it's a telegraph to the world, we have a new princess in town. i'm an independent woman, i can walk myself down the aisle. >> she will meet prince charles down the end of the aisle. >> it's okay. she's got this on her own. i think it's circling back to what we said earlier, a testament to the queen relaxing. in the early 90s, she decided to chill out. she famously did not allow her sister to marry the love of her life because he was a divorcee. >> as we learned in the crowd. >> absolutely. flash forward a few days, charles you want to marry camilla, not a problem. harry, you want to marry a black girl, go ahead. i'm good. >> there's a reason why this royal family endures. they do manage to change with the times. >> it's a little reluctant. >> especially after the death of

princess diana. you watched the queen, you realize just what diana's death, the impact and the lack of sensitivity that the gequeen ha to diana's death, it's important to know how special diana was to the people and the backlash she received forced her to change. >> immediately after the death, you know, the kids were isolated, harry and william were isolated and not many people offering praise these days. tony blair intervened. the queen was staying in her royal castle, not acknowledging the outpouring of regret and upset of her subjects. tony blair went to the queen and said, look, your subjects need you. she came down to london, she famously did a live broadcast and talked about how she was upset, as a grandmother. that humanized her. she has been on that train ever since. >> it's been changing all the

time. i met charles and camilla. camilla is often painted as a dragon. she's not. she's a woman's woman. she's earthy, country. she's very laid back. she has been enormously good for prince charles, she has. that's helped lessen the -- >> the sting. i think seeing harry happy lessens it all the more. still to come, a live report from meghan markle's hotel and what she is doing in her final moments of preparation before marrying the prince. the doors to the chapel are set to open in 30 minutes. there are lots and lots of celebrities that should be arriving shortly. we'll spot them all for you, stay with us.

all right. right now, prince harry and meghan are getting ready. they are about 15 miles apart. harry is prepping at the coworth

park hotel and meghan is at the clive den house. lucy, can you tell us what we are seeing? we are seeing general marching going on. >> good morning, joy. how exciting is this? we are just outside the historic cliveden house where meghan markle and her mom spent the night getting ready for her big day. this is an historic 350-year-old estate in the british country side. it is perfectly manicured grounds. rooms furnished with antiques and paintings. this is one of the most exclusive british retreats. rooms can cost up to $2,000 a night. a spa with jacuzzis and spas. maybe they treated themselves to treatments last night, we don't know. the dress arrived here to cliveden house before meghan and her mom, doria arrived.

meghan said she was doing wonderful. the bride has a team of several assistants helping with hair, make-up, making sure everything is ready. in two hours time, joy, meghan and her mom will get into a burgundy rolls-royce and make the 25-minute drive to windsor castle to st. george's castle where meghan will finally get to wed her prince. joy? >> thank you very much, lucy. i'm coming back to the table. there was a marching band happening there. can you tell us what that was? >> the guards. there are lots of regimens in the british army. they wear these red tunics and they are called bare skins, a hat made of a bear. >> an actual bear. >> an actual bear and they are extraordinarily hot. it's not cliveden house. it was the home of somebody

called lord aster. back in the 1960s, we have a minor set where the british secretary of defense was caught with a yng lady who was intimate with th russians. >> christine kila. >> there was a movie made called "scandal." it took place at cliveden. >> but it has a spa. let's go back to stephanie and katy with more updates on the nuptials to come. can you top cliveden house and the scandal? >> number one, we are not talking politics today. today is about something other than politics. >> coming together is something we all need to do. yesterday, i would say there was a coming together of two friends. >> yesterday, meghan's mother, doria has tea with the queen. as far as we know, they have

never met before. did you know, it is not posh to put your pinky up when you drink tea? >> i did not know that. i'm guessing if she didn't know before, doria studied that before she met the queen. the queen had to give official consent for this wedding to take place. it is required for her to approve the first six heirs to the throne, speckly who they marry. >> you are going to quiz me. the first is prince charles, number one, then prince william, then prince george, then princess charlotte, then prince l louie, then prince harry. you know about the consent thing. if you watched "the crown," queen elizabeth had to give permission to princess margaret to marry and she said no to

peter townsend. it was a scandal in the show, so i presume in real life as well. >> it's more than the official consent. harry said how much the queen likes meghan. you saw a photograph of the two of them on her desk and harry also said the queen likes or the queen's dogs, her beloved dogs, they like meghan more than him. >> they are corgis. >> he's gotten 30 years of barking and meghan got a wag of the tail. >> why it's so different now. back then, the scandal was that he was divorced and you can't have a divorcee marry into the family. you couldn't marry an american divorcee. th have come by our standards in commoner culture, is taken a long time.

by the standards of the royal family and royal history, it is a long way in a relatively short time. >> the day after the engagement was announced, there was a piece where they said, you would never have seen an american actress divorcee, mixed race, ever be able to marry a royal. it's a sentence you would never hear 100 years ago. >> not even 30 years ago. >> it is not a modern day fairytale, it is modern day reality. >> stay with us, we will be back from windsor.

welcome back. here we are live at windsor castle where it is royal wedding day. >> look at your screen. a ton of guests are coming in. the last person in the family that will show upright before the ceremony is queen elizabeth. >> you can see right there, most of the men in morning suits, women wearing hats like i'm wearing, fascinators. >> morning suits not

m-o-u-r-n-i-n-g. >> they made their way to the castle through this long walk. this is where meghan will come with her mom. natalie morales is joining us now. >> i have to show you how festive this is. this running group just ran up here. where did you run from? look at them. they are dressed for a wedding, while running. it gives you an example of how people are making an occasion out of this. as guests are arriving, what this is about is the public here. 75,000 people lining the long walk, all just hoping to catch a glimpse of the bride-to-be. she will make it to the castle

with her groom to be married. back to you guys. >> thank you, natalie. we just saw oprah winfrey making her way in with an extraordinary hat. we are going to call out gayle king. we asked her, is oprah here. she gave a, i don't know. >> we also asked if she was running for president, she said i don't know. >> savannah sellers is out along the procession route, hoping to catch a glimpse of prince harry and meghan. still early. they are going to make their way out of their hotels. harry is with william. they stayed at the dorchester. they are not here yesterday. >> i'm right here along high street and the crowds are starting to come in. right after the ceremony, the carriage will take them around, inside windsor castle down, make a left and come right down this street. it's the horses that are called this type of horse, specifically, windsor greys. they have been carrying queens,

monarchs, since queen victoria. today, it will be a father/son duo. storm and tyrone are the two horses coming down. everybody is packed because they have excited for a glimpse. i made some friends here. they are from california, aren't you ladies? hi, how are you? you are from california, just like myself. more importantly, meghan, is that right? >> yes. >> what is it like for you to see a california girl join the brish royalam f >> incrediblee a,ik dream. >> hopefully they will spend more time in california. >> you are studying abroad? >> yes. >> what is it like being here at this time? >> exciting. i feel like everyone is so excited for the wedding. they are welcoming meghan to england and to the family. it's fun to see american flags everywhere. >> it's a celebration of both

cultures, right? >> yes. >> i've almost met more americans than britains. >> i agree. we have heard more american accents than british. >> definitely the most of anytime in england. anywhere we have been, the most americans are here, right now, today. >> awesome. thanks so much. i hope you get to see her and i get to see her. we'll be here waving and trying to get her to look over toous. >> we will do that as well. her carriage is going to come out behind us. the two loud american voices you hear are stephanie and i. >> when they make their way out of the grounds, this will be the first public shot of the mr. and mrs. royals. >> how does the wave go? >> we don't have it down yet. we were talking ant the famous people making their way in. i cannot wait to hear about and from, a gospel choir listen

there. "stand by me" is going to be the stand-out song. i've heard it will be amazing. >> a 19-year-old cellist that harry heard years ago said he has to have him in the wedding. meghan called him on the phone, directly. that's an exciting thing to have the future princess, a future duchess call you and say, please, perform in our wedding. >> those are going to be some of the performers inside the church. >> i think it will be a "love actually" moment. >> i love that. oprah might stand-up in the song in the middle of it. we will be dancing on the outside. at the reception, a lot of people are wondering who is going to perform. harry said the greatest day of his life is when he met the spice girls. >> he was 12 years old. it was funny. look it up online.

>> here at windsor castle. why are we here? it's royal wedding day. don't go anywhere.

you are looking at live picturings of the town of windsor in england where all of that country, as well as here across the pond are waiting for the marriage, the fabulous marriage of harry and meghan markle. we saw oprah winfrey, a trio of brits who contributed to time magazine. trish goddard, a long running show in the uk. we have with me here, on the panel, lola, who is an anchor at people tv and jackie reid, my play cousin, faux cousin on the day. we are all wearing our face naters. we are going to talk celebrities. we had an interesting elba

sighting with his fiance. we had an oprah sighting. >> she is american royalty. >> the kardashians? >> we know there are going to be a lot of josh stone, ed sheeran, serena williams, priyanka chopra. they are the best of friends. a lot of actresses will be coming. i did not know elba was going to show up and oprah winfrey. that leads to rumors that, are the obama's actually coming? >> there was an assumption, but they didn't want politicians. >> and they didn't want to

outshow harry and meghan. >> there's talk they could show up. with surprises like oprah. how do you not know oprah winfrey is coming. >> as much as they get on well, for the safety of the world, i hope he doesn't. if the obama's show up, it could press the nuclear button. >> the second revolutionary war. >> he would take to twitter. there would be a live feed. >> they have disabled that by now. >> another person that is not quite a celebrity is alice the campbell, the mental health charity harry did a lot for. since he talked about mental health, it's done a lot to break down the barriers of men talking about mental health and mental illness. this is national mental health awareness week in great britain and they are getting married at the end.

that's more to do that due to the fact of citizenship laws. once somebody said this is my fiance, they have to get married in six months. they just made it. harry and meghan are not harry and meghan. neither of their names are that. she is rachel and he is henry. >> 17 other names, that's the way it is. princess diana got prince charles' name wrong. prince henry or harry is named after his great, great, great grandfather, henry the viii. in the unlikely event he ascended to the throne, he would be henry the ix. no fat shaming of henry viii. the reason he was so large, he got married six times and the

wedding breakfasts were so big. >> okay. >> he was a revolutionary. he managed to find a way to get out of alimony payments. >> the cast of "suits." many members of the show that meghan was famously a part of here in the u.s., on usa network, "suits" a lot of cast mates are there. there was hope when her father pulled out of not walking her down the show, wendell pierce would have walked her down. >> that would have been nice. >> george and amal clooney are set to be here as well. >> and the back ups. >> and the spice girls. >> it is a star-studded wedding. i have to say, it is a star-studded wedding and for african-americans, it's like the blackest world wedding ever. coming up, the doors to the chapel are opening up. the gifts are set to pour in. first, we are going to see more

of a celebrity invite. the royal family will arrive. it is exciting. we are doing all royal wedding all morning long, stay with us.

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find your phone easily with the xfinity voice remote. one more way comcast is working to fit into your life, not the other way around. welcome back to msnbc's special coverage of the royal wedding. what a beautiful day for the wedding it is. you are looking at live pictures of st. george's chapel in windsor, england. a crch where kings have been christened and buried. in two hours, an american will take her place among the royal family. not just any american, a black american. prince harry defying centuries of protocol will marry mn