Monitoring A Moment In History: The Royal Wedding

Melanie Wahl - May 5, 2011

The world held its breath the morning of April 29, 2011 as the royal wedding began.  Catherine Middleton fulfilled the fantasy of becoming a princess as she married Prince William.  Technically, according to the statement issued by the press secretary to The Queen, their official titles are His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge, but princess she did look as she married her prince.  Online, millions of people had something to say whether it was well wishes, fashion commentary, or comparisons to Grace Kelly or Princess Diana and many chose to share their thoughts through social media. 

Wedding updates, news, and remarks skyrocketed online.  What could have been an unorganized mess was streamlined by a well put together social media strategy.  The Royal Wedding was broadcast live on the official YouTube Channel, which had a side bar showing tweets from @ClarenceHouse one of two official Twitter accounts belonging to The Royal Family (the other is @BritishMonarchy).  In addition to official tweets, @ClarenceHouse shared images, such as a photograph of one of the carriages, via twitpic.

The official hashtag of the wedding was #rw2011, however #royalwedding was extremely popular as it was promoted through the media. Over 2.5 Million tweets used #royalwedding the day of the wedding.  ABC News conducted Twitter polls by asking viewers to tweet using the hashtags #RoyalSuccess or #RoyalMess for a variety of questions such as opinions of Kate’s dress and the couple’s double kiss.   

Additional tweets that trended well with The Royal Wedding were:

#theroyalwedding
#theroyalkiss
#RoyalKiss
#WilliamandKate
#PrincessDiana
#PrinceHarry
#SarahBurton
#BuckinghamPalace
#GraceKelly
#marrymeharry
#weddingdress
#mcqueen
#proudtobebritish

Having a social media strategy in place can help businesses, organizations, and even families keep track of the social conversation as it is happening.  The Royal Wedding is a wonderful example of social media done right. 

Congratulations to the happy couple!