Why is Australia Obsessed with the British Royal Family
A Flashback Look At Our Royal Obsession
BY SHERI HESSING
Before Princess Charlotte, when George got all the attention.
“Sir , Wednesday’s paper did not have a photograph of the Duchess of Cambridge. I do hope she is all right,” one sarcastic newsreader writes , as the first issue of a newspaper in months is without a picture (albeit not without a story) of the British Royals.
And that’s the world we live in. Every breath they take, every step they make, we’ll be watching. But WHY are we so obsessed with the British royal family? While they are our Head of State, they have as much relevance or control over our government as Kim Kardashian. Quite separate from political links, our love for them doesn’t seem to be based in homeland genetics either. In 2011, only 5.3% of the population was born in, or had significant family links to, the UK.
A deep interest in the Royals also exists in America, a country that threw away its political connection with the UK around 1765. The question remains: What is it that we love so much about Kate and George and the rest? Well, it seems that they have more in common with Kim Kardashian than you’d have guessed.
When reading my favourite fashion blog, Kate’s outfit on any given day appears on a very regular basis. Every time it does, I huff and I puff and I skip to the article about the young Disney starlet who wore assless chaps to an awards ceremony. I do this mostly because as royalty, Kate has to wear really prim and proper clothing that isn’t that interesting to look at or read about.
But there’s also a little voice in my head screaming, “Why do people CARE about them? They don’t DO anything. They didn’t DO anything to make them worth caring about. They just happened to be BORN.”
And what did Kim Kardashian do (excluding that somewhat controversial sex-tape) apart from being born into a certain family? Yet I definitely care about what skirt she was wearing last week.
The Royals have become international celebrities in themselves. Aside from having historical connections to Australia and America, we know who they are and care about what they do because they’re famous. Everybody knows who they are, what they look like and where they’re from. Reading about their private lives just like we would Rihanna or Johnny Depp only seems natural.
Not to mention the insane media saturation, which by reporting them to within an inch of their lives has brought them closer and closer to ours.
Then there is the ‘fairytale factor’. Kate was not born part of the royal family, she married into it. Isn’t that THE dream?! Meeting a prince and marrying into a kingdom and living happily ever after? It inspires and makes us sigh with the romance of it all.
The clinching factor — the reason they’re all over the news whenever anything even slightly interesting happens to them — is the connection we can claim. Australians are very proud of our Australians, or anyone we can claim to be even remotely Australian. We will find a tiny connection and hang on like it’s our lifeline.
Iggy Azalea left Australia when she was 16, claims to have no friends and little family in Australia, and made her success in America. “But she’s successful now, which means she’s still “our” Iggy Azalea, right?” Kate and William are a part of our history because they’re British royalty so you bet that the media will claim them as ‘ours’.
The Royal family, whether you like it or not, are here to stay as celebrities!
Do you give a damn about the British royal family? Let us know why/why not in the comments!