America’s royal obsession

In April 2011, Hannah Brusven was determined to watch the live broadcast of the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. The only problem? The wedding was on a Friday, and she was in the sixth grade. She would need to cut class. “I convinced my mother that it must be true that everyone at school was going to stay home to watch the royal wedding,” Brusven recalled. “And she thought I was ridiculous, but she let me stay home anyway.”

The wedding was well worth skipping school. She watched in wonder as Kate Middleton walked down the aisle of Westminster Abbey to the majestic strains of “I Was Glad” by British composer Hubert Parry. Years later, when Brusven married her own Prince Charming, she picked “I Was Glad” for her bridal entrance.

Today, she is the editor of The Swish, a print and digital quarterly magazine dedicated to celebrating what Brusven calls “classical femininity.” The Swish regularly features articles on the British royal family. It’s hardly the only one. Countless media outlets cover the lives, work, and fashion of the royals.

In 1776, America cast off the rule of King George III with the Declaration of Independence, which accused him of trying to establish “absolute Tyranny.” But even as we celebrate 250 years of American freedom from monarchy, our interest in the British royal family seems insatiable.

Gazing at the landscape of American popular culture, you might be forgiven for wondering if 1776 ever happened. It’s hard to enter an American supermarket without spotting magazines that feature a British royal on the cover, usually Kate Middleton, who is officially known as Catherine, Princess of Wales. Books on the British royal family regularly appear on The New York Times bestseller list. Prince Harry’s memoir Spare was the bestselling nonfiction book of 2023.

In 2022, 11.4 million Americans watched the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, and that doesn’t include online viewing. Funeral coverage spanned 13 cable and broadcast networks. Back in 2011, Brusven was joined by around 23 million of her fellow Americans to watch the royal wedding. And Americans don’t only watch real-life broadcasts of the royals. We also gobble up fictionalized depictions. The Crown, a Netflix drama about the life of the late Queen Elizabeth II, was both popular and critically acclaimed.

Glenn Duerr, chair of the department of history and government at Cedarville University, said America has deep historical ties to the British royal family. “We tend to think about the 13 colonies of the United States, but it is worth noting there were 20 British colonies throughout North America.” The colonies in the region that eventually became Canada were deeply loyal to the crown. “In the 13 colonies, probably 15% to 20% were still heavily, heavily loyalist, especially in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina,” Duerr added. The popularity of the Anglican Church, of which the British monarch is the head, was also an important link during that era.

Duerr argues American fascination with the British royal family should be placed in the context of our love for many aspects of British society. He points to the enormous popularity of the Harry Potter books by British author J.K. Rowling and British costume dramas like Downton Abbey.

In the realm of sports, British soccer is beloved enough that “somewhere maybe in the low millions of Americans wake up early on a Saturday morning to watch a game being played 3½-thousand miles away, depending on one’s location,” Duerr said.

He also notes that traveling to London is relatively easy, which means “many Americans have this touch point, a remembrance of being in London.”

In a 24/7 media cycle, the British royal family provides endless angles for coverage. They offer pomp and circumstance. “I don’t think anyone in the world puts on a coronation or a show quite like the British,” Duerr said. They have fashion and history but also, according to Duerr, “a bit of a soap opera.” The strained relationships among Prince Harry, Prince William, and King Charles serve as fodder for gossip columns.

Brusven thinks our interest in the British royal family also stems from something deeper in our natures. “They are one of the last remaining examples, culturally, of what it looks like to have a life of duty and service beyond yourself,” she said. She stresses that being American is a privilege and a blessing. But “we’re very forward-facing, and that has led us to lose our sense, to some extent, of duty.”

Brusven loves covering Catherine in The Swish because “she embodies the principles of classical femininity.” Catherine chose “a life of duty and service that is practically unrecognizable in our world of self-aggrandizement and self-made women,” Brusven said.

And America does have something like its own monarchy, Brusven argues: “Our celebrity class is our royalty, and that is constantly changing. We have someone new at the top of the charts, someone new at the box office every month.” Still, she thinks we yearn for the permanence and historical lineage offered by a traditional monarchy.

Modern celebrities often share every detail of their lives with the public. By contrast, the British royal family maintains an air of mystery. “And that, of course, contributes to more interest over time,” Brusven said.