How / Why did you get interested in royalty?

[AdmirerUS]

Diana! I was older than she and younger than he. It was a fairy tale and I was enchanted. Then Fergie came along and made me laugh. Then the wings fell off the fairy. And I actually started to learn about the BRF.

 

[Duchess Marie]

I became interested due to Grace Kelly and the simple fact that i love everything related to history. I adore seeing little baby pictures of Queen Elizabeth II, she made such a sweet baby!! I guess that some of it came from seeing black and white pictures that people colored, plain curiosity, and hearing about the death Diana in my history class.

 

[Grandma828]

I became enthralled when Queen Elizabeth, then Princess Elizabeth, was courting Philip. I was a starry eyed teen at the time.

 

[DavidJFoy]

Why do you like the Royals?

I'm writing a book on people's opinions of the British Royal family. I would like to get to know why people like/dislike the Royals, their memories of Royal events/visits/meetings and why people across the world are so fascinated with our Royal family.

If you are interested in helping out, then please drop me a message.

Thanks,

David

 

[Princess B]

My interest in Royals started with Princess Diana's death. That's when I picked up every book available on Diana.

I was 14 then and thought the royal family was bad for having treated Diana the way the books portrayed.

I felt for her sons ( I actually had a crush in prince William) and read abt them.
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[DavidJFoy]

If you want to talk further about it then please email me: david.foy90@gmail.com

 

[Princess B]

Emailed already

 

[georgiea]

I think at first it is the fairytale of royal privilege that makes a person interested. Just like the red carpet with performers. Love to see the designer gowns, designer suits and jewels.

Diana, Princess of Wales' book made me take notice of BRF. I watched their wedding and thought what a fairytale and then the book. WOW a soap opera! The press made the BRF a major interest to people worldwide.The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be living in London soon and in a fishbowl. Baby Cambridge is going to much needed security. I also like other royal houses, but the press coverage of the BRF is overwhelming.

Getting back to the real reason we like royals its their work they do for causes dear to them.

 

[kathia_sophia]

I am a lover of history, especially about Monarchies, since the great history came from them.
I guess that my interest in that captivated me to follow the royalty news nowadays. Their history, traditions, enchanting jewerly, stunning tiaras, grand wardrobe and especially royal children is what I'm interested the most.
As I am such a royalty history lover, I like to follow almost all monarchies and know more about them, costumes and their past, I don't have any favourite senior royal, because I like them all, especially the main families (heirs, etc...), but I have a crush for royal children, especially the heirs, but I guess I have a favourite royal children (Infanta Leonor), but I love them all.

 

[EchoLynn]

I'm just obsessed with it all... the history, the clothes, the jewels, the lifestyle... My mom swears I must have been a queen in another life. She actually bought me a membership for searching out my genealogy to prove it lol. Only in the 1800s atm... will get there I guess lol. I do know my last name can be traced back to Britannia clans back in the 1000's.

I'm also writing a novel based on a made up royal family in modern times I just LOVE it all.

 

[Meadow]

My mother was a Monarchist she bought all the books and magazines watched every show on TV about Royals and talked about them like she knew them. LOL It kind of rubbed off on me I remember watching Princess Annes wedding with her and we made a real event out of it and any other Royal Wedding that happened while she was alive.

 

[kathia_sophia]

I'm just obsessed with it all... the history, the clothes, the jewels, the lifestyle... My mom swears I must have been a queen in another life. She actually bought me a membership for searching out my genealogy to prove it lol. Only in the 1800s atm... will get there I guess lol. I do know my last name can be traced back to Britannia clans back in the 1000's.

I'm also writing a novel based on a made up royal family in modern times I just LOVE it all.

I wrote a novel based on royalty as well, but mine is from the 17 century, with an Austrian Imperial Family, just a summary (The youngest of three children but the only daughter of the Emperor and Empress of Austria life journey. The trials and dificulties the Princess faces on arranged marriages, escape attempts, diferent cultures, love struggles, etc...The marriage with the Crown Prince of Portugal, miscarriages, etc...EVERYTHING told from the perspective of her personal maid.)
It is very cool I also had to make some research about the Austrian culture, palaces, costumes, wardrobe. Read lots of things about the 17th century. My story is made-up, fictional characters, but the surroundings are all true. My novel is called "Memoirs of a Plebeian"

I'm now going for other direction, a bit more dificult. I did a brief summary about a novel I'm going to write now, called "Ameerah", set in Joseon (old Kingdom of Korea), Japan and Ming (old Imperial China).
The summary is: The Ming Emperor wasn't married and didn't have children, so his officials arranged a marriage with the sister of the King of Joseon, to held political ties with both countries. But the marriage was childless so the Emperor had a second wife whom he loved and cherished but she died giving birth to his only child, a daughter, the jealously first wife had a plan with her brother the King of Joseon to have the baby be killed, so that they could overthrone the Ming Emperor. But the baby is switched by the wife's maid, fearing for the life of the innocent child secretly and sends her to a Noble Japanese household of envoys, but the baby girl suffers hardships there. When the girl learns her true identity she goes to her homeland country to start a civil war and wins and is proclaimed the Great Empress of Ming China.

It's just a summary, but I'll write a novel based on that brief summary with more details and history. I had written many summaries with lots of diferent stories, but I'll take this one first to write my second full novel.

 

[tiaratan]

How did you get an interest in royality?

I woud read how far they go back in history from school.I do not know a lot about the royal families, so I am going to start reading on the royal forums.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

I've been drawn to history since childhood, starting with Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War when I was in 4th grade. Then the summer of my 12th birthday I saw the BBC TV series "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" and I was simply transfixed. I developed a sort of girl crush on Catherine of Aragon, just felt so terribly sad for her. I became obsessed with Tudor history, then the Valois and Bourbons of France, then the Romanovs of Russia. I had and still have such a vivid imagination I could easily visualize myself in whatever Royal Court in whichever period I wanted.

I have basically been hooked most of my life, my family thought I was a real weirdo!

 

[Blog Real]

I'm not sure how it started my interest in monarchies. But I started to interest me more at the time of the wedding of Felipe and Letizia. I saw this wedding on television.
Then I was watching the Royals by the magazines and the interest started to grow increasingly over time. Today we know much about the stories of current and former monarchies. I'm a monarchist.

 

[Grandma828]

My interest in royalty started when Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip married. I have always loved history and royalty just made it more interesting.

 

[Marty91charmed]

I've always been fascinated by royalty: when I was a child I used to dream about Prince William. As I grew my interest started spreading...

 

[CyrilVladisla]

One may follow a particular Royal Family because one's ancestors were originally in that country.
Thus you are learning about the history and culture of your ancestors.
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[COUNTESS]

On sites like this, it is like cutout dolls. Yes, historically, they have played a part, but mostly today they are window dressing.

 

[Lee-Z]

my 2cts:
it seems that on internet there are two types of royalty followers:
- those who like royals, royal history, royal jewels, think there should be more royals, and love to talk about that
- those who think royals are completely ridiculous, moneygrabbing, part of ancient history, think they should be abolished and love to talk about that

 

[Marty91charmed]

I'm in the middle then :-D I like following royalty because it's something I've always felt attracted to... But they are flawed human beings like everyone else and thus they shouldn't be worshipped or excused for everything...

 

[nascarlucy]

There are a variety of reasons people are interested in royalty. For me, I've always had a fascination with royalty as they don't live the same lifestyle as you're average person. I didn't know until I was in my 20's that I had royal blood (I used to think it would be interesting if I did) and this made the interest more intense.

 

[Muhler]

To me it's a natural part of my passion for history. The royals are so intertwined with the history of my country that you cannot ignore them.
It's also a part to learn about traditions and ways to do things, because they are mostly based in something practical.

And through that interest came a natural interest for other royals in their roles in the history of their countries.

 

[miss whirley]

I follow the royals as a social observation. I'm an only child with no cousins, so large family dynamics have always been a curiosity to me. I'd rather spend my time following the activities of the Windsors than the Kardashians or the Duggars. Besides history is a favorite subject of mine so I get a secondary bonus from following the BRF.

I've noticed that many royal watchers are very conservative sociopolitically . I myself am a dyed in the wool ultra-liberal, and I enjoy the juxtaposition. Also I get a giggle at watching certain posters trying to justify their sexist and plutocratic views. It's even more fascinating when they project mental illness/sinister motives onto the royals in random assumption, or when they come up with conspiracy theories. Every time you deal with the subject of history, tradition and religion the looney bigots and zealots come out of the woodwork, various royal forums on the internet are a testament to this. Royal watchers can be just as interesting as the royals themselves. For better or worse.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

About 90% of my interest in royalty is linked with my passion for history and genealogy.

I also find royalty a much more interesting alternative to Hollywood and pop culture celebrities.

 

[MidwestMom]

Royalty gives us a glimpse into another world that most of us will never experience. Also, the historical ties and the traditions are interesting. I have followed the British royals for a long time - I was a fan of Diana, but I could see that she was not without faults. My interest in royalty got kicked up a notch when I was watching royal weddings on YouTube (I'm a church organist so I'm interested in the music, etc.) and, lo and behold, there are other royal families out there! They are just as interesting and colorful as the Brits. So I've done a lot of reading, both books and the internet. And I've learned a lot of history in the process. While it's a harmless and escapist hobby, it's not one that you can talk to others about, at least not in my circles. Most people just think it's silly - after all, Americans revolted against the monarchy in the 18th century, so why bother with them now? Although I can see the value of having a nonpartisan head of state. The American president functions as both head of state and head of government, not always successfully. I remember the flap when President Obama bowed to the Japanese emperor - didn't help his popularity at all.

BTW, an interesting book is ''The Great Survivors'' by Peter Conradi. Good insight into European royalty.

 

[carlota]

what an interesting thread. i have always wondered why people are interested in royalty, yet have never seen this thread, even though it was started in 2005 and the person who reopened it only recently reposted - after being left untouched since 2005.

i guess i find royalty appealing because of several reasons:

- they embody 'proper' behaviour, which people rarely see or experience in everyday life: how to behave appropriately, how to drink and eat appropriately, how to present yourself appropriately and how to interact with others appropriately. i find the protocol that surrounds them fascinating.

- they are present in a wide variety of 'high profile' events, so it's quite easy for anyone to spot them when they watch the news or any events they may follow and to become interested in them. whether you are interested in charity work, in sports, in history, in industry... it's quite likely that at some point you were reading the news of a royal being present at that really crucial football match, the funeral of an important person you liked who changed history or at a history-changing event.

- they dress in amazing clothes, meet the brightest and best of people, live in beautiful palaces, travel to great holiday destinations... what's not to like about that? i guess we all are more or less interested in being "nosey" and knowing what other people do to get inspiration. as someone else said, i'm more interested to know where royalty goes on holiday than britney spears.

however, i have to disagree with other people in that the reason we follow royalty is because we 'envy them' or want to be like them 'because they live perfect lives'. yes, they are privileged, but with privilege comes responsibility, pressure and intrusion. i wouldn't swap places with any of them - at least not for long.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Father grew up learning about Royal Families.
I like the names of Royalty. However, not just their first names. I like the additional middle names.
The historic aspect is nice due to the fact that some Royals married foreign Royals. You get to learn about additional Royal Families.
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[M. Payton]

Way back when in 7th grade a history teacher realized I hated reading and he discovered that I did not know how to read at all, so he kept me after school and brought out a history book on ancient Egypt, a duck took to water then real quick, to this day I have a deep love of the ancient world and the near east, well later on I saw a picture of my favorite queen in a magazine riding a bike around Copenhagen with bodyguards following her on their bikes, Queen Daisy, fell in love with her right then and there and have followed her ever since and that lead me to all the ancient and current history of Europe. Today here on TRF it is what I call *living history* right at our finger tips each day and from my view they are just like you and me, only they live on a different scale of finances, they have the same issues and problems and joys and desires and wants and needs like all of us do. One thing that I look for in reading is I want to find and learn about women during these times, I search for strong intelligent women and look for ways that they change the lives of the people around them.

And for me the best is learning and reading about the ancient past of Europe and all the people down through the ages. What a wealth of information there is here to learn and talk about all the time. I just wish I could remember all the things that I have read through the years yet most of it has escaped me and can't seem to find it....

 

[Meredith I]

I started with the British Royals, because I was interested in the Queen, as well as the work Prince Harry, Prince William, and Catherine are doing with mental health (which is very important to me as I have an anxiety disorder and am often ostracized but oh well), especially how they are trying to take the stigma away, then I started with Wikipedia pages, then found other royals, and now I'm obsessed.