The Royal Treatment on Lifeline

While far smaller than its network cousins, cable TV’s Lifetime channel, which says it offers “provocative information and entertainment programming of special interest to today’s woman,” will report on Wednesday’s royal wedding in a big way.

With a commentary troupe that includes Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the sex-advice sage, Lifetime plans 13 1/2 hours of live and taped programming, starting with live coverage of the wedding and accompanying festivities from 1:30 to 5:30 a.m. PDT Wednesday.

From 5:30 to 8 a.m., guest anchor and actress Lynn Redgrave will discuss the royal wedding and honeymoon with Westheimer, author Quentin Crisp, actors George Rose and Tony Randall, and Barbara Tober, editor of Bride’s magazine.

Lifetime then will show taped highlights of Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s 1981 wedding from 11 a.m. to noon, and will follow that with an hour of taped highlights of the wedding of Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson.

From 3 to 8 p.m. PDT, Redgrave will anchor a program incorporating taped highlights of the Wednesday wedding and parts of the earlier commentary by Westheimer and others, says Lifetime, which says it reaches 25 million households.