Royals in Pop Culture

Why are we obsessed with royalty? For as long as monarchs have existed – and they have existed a really long time – they have been a subject of utter fascination. Whether they’re revered, adored or disliked, we can’t seem to get enough of them. If you wanted to avoid any word of them, you’d have a near-impossible time of it. Their accessions, actions and relationships are woven into our global history; their families, personal strife and achievements are imagined and played out in every medium of art; their appearances dominate the news; these people are photographed more than anyone else on the planet. The royals have endured and navigated centuries of changing social and economic landscapes to maintain an iconic status, the likes of which no one else in celebrity culture can reach.

So, what is it about them that keeps us coming back for more? I asked myself this a lot when I started plotting out my latest YA novel Hot Young Royals, a not-so-subtle title that gives you an idea of the story. I wanted to imagine what it would be like to be a young royal in London’s elite society today and I had a great time writing about the lavish parties and balls they’d attend, the couture wardrobe they’d have free access to, the glamorous international travel they’d embark on, and what they’d get up to with certain people when they thought one was looking…

But this is, of course, all fiction. I have no idea what it’s like to be a young royal today or what it was like at any time in history, and I think that’s what’s so captivating about them: the mystery. Through public appearances and speeches, the general public feel we get to know our royal rulers – but those appearances are carefully curated, the speeches are drafted and edited many times before they’re spoken. The royals might be portrayed in popular culture, but that is the work of an artist’s imagination, perhaps inspired by reality but ultimately still fantasy. Theirs is a world of privilege and pressure that we’ll never fully understand, and I’m sure they’re aware that, if we did, it would lose its magic.

And I think we like the magic. We like the mystery. We say we’d love to have a peek behind the curtain and see what really goes on and how it all works, but I’m not sure we actually would. In a real world that can be grim, chaotic and terrifying, isn’t it comforting to have the sense of order, grace and duty a steadfast monarchy appears to represent? Isn’t it wildly exciting, every now and then, to celebrate a big romantic royal wedding that looks like a scene straight out of a fairy tale? Isn’t it funny to imagine what would happen if I, a clumsy, chaotic outsider, was thrown into this pristine aspirational world of rules and status? Yeah, it is. That’s the plot of a mind-boggling amount of books, plays and movies (usually Christmas ones, for some reason). And we know it can happen in real life too: look at Grace Kelly, Catherine Middleton, Meghan Markle, Rania Al-Yassin, Mary Donaldson to name a few.

One element of pop culture that modern royals have to navigate nowadays is the role social media plays in shaping public opinion and how quickly the tide can turn. While in time gone by, royals may have been expected to encapsulate a being ‘cut above the rest’, now it’s no use being out of touch or removed from reality. They’ve had to adapt to come across relatable and aspirational but not entitled; transparent and honest but dignified and humbly reserved; authentic and engaging, but also refined and polished. It used to be that those in the public eye had to worry about the intrusion of the paparazzi, but there were places to hide. Less so now that everyone has a camera phone and several accessible platforms by way of which to regale stories and opinions. Thanks to social media, we’re all narrators now, reliable or not. Every move a royal makes can be captured and with one wrong move, one bad day, even the most carefully curated illusion can be shattered. We have all witnessed the challenges that arise when it comes to creating a unique and successful royal ‘personal brand’ – barely a day goes by without some kind of new criticism of the Duchess of Sussex. In my book, the teenage Princess Caroline is acutely aware of how she is perceived at all times, whether with friends at school or at a public event, and that can lead her to make choices that come at a hefty price. She may not be the warmest or easiest of characters, but she’s no villain either. When I was writing her story, I had a lot of fun – but I also couldn’t stop thinking about how exhausting it must be, trying to be perceived as the perfect princess: be human but no mistakes allowed. And that isn’t human at all.

Hot Young Royals is out now.