Jane Seymour finds royal correspondent gig ‘quite fun’

“This is completely insane. I think there’s nothing else happening in the world!” says Jane Seymour, actress-turned-correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. “Clearly there is no news, because all the media are here.”

Seymour is loving her royal TV gig and is bubbly after just bumping into Today co-host Meredith Vieira while doing a promo shot at the media grandstand near Westminster Abbey. “I find it quite fun. It’s like I’m on the other side of the camera.”

And yet the first time she flashed her credential, a security guard recognized her. “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s great security —— if you’ve been on telly, they’ll let you in.’ ”

The Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman star, who was born in England but is now an American citizen, calls herself an “AmeriBrit. I’m British enough to be British and American enough to be American.”

And she knows those royals. “My perspective is fairly unique. I’ve been presented to the queen a number of times.”

She adds, “I’ve had dinner at the palace with the older royals, Edward and Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and I know Prince Edward. Fergie, I know very well. She’s an old buddy. … So I do know several members of the royal family. A lot of people know them as distant figures.”

As for Prince William and Kate Middleton? “I have not met them. I wish I had because they seem amazing. I think they are in love. I think they are perfectly matched. I think they’ve spent enough time together and apart to know each other. And I think he’s had enough time to see if she’s the right person for the job.”

Seymour’s prediction of their marriage: “As challenging as their life will be, they have the best chance of anyone out there.”

Seymour is part of a team that includes veteran Mary Hart and former Access Hollywood anchor Nancy O’Dell.

“Jane’s a classy lady,” says O’Dell, who is also in royal wedding overdrive and pondering what color to wear on camera for the big event, when she’ll be right across the street watching Middleton and the prince exit Westminster Abbey.

For ET and sister CBS show The Insider, which may be small compared with the giant network coverage, the wedding is a very big deal.

“This is, by far, the biggest amount in resources and money we have spent on any event,” says Linda Bell Blue, executive director of both shows. “It’s the Oscars, the Super Bowl and the Grammys all in one.”

They have 70 credentialed staff members on site and spent “in the six figures” for a 15-square-foot media studio near Buckingham Palace. And that’s why she hired Seymour and Sharon Osbourne, who’s working for The Insider, to help with coverage.

“They bring a different perspective,” says Blue.

For The Insider’s Kevin Frazier, who’ll spend much of the week working with Osbourne, it’s “a moment in time,” and he’s convinced that “guys really are paying attention” to this. “We’ve dealt with Charlie Sheen the last month and a half — let’s bring back the elegance.”

source: usatoday.com