How did you get interested in royalty ?

[Crawler]

Before coming to this board I also used to participate in sugar board forums, but I never got how people would freak out, when someone mentioned that royal XY wasn't holy and faultless.

I can't understand that either but they can get down right mean about it. As if they aren't as human as everyone else is.

[Ksenija]

I don't have such a fascinating story about becoming interested in Royalty. I am kind of begginer.That happened a year ago in the school.We needed to choose one of the Europe's Royal families and write an essay.I chose Swedish RF since Sweden is near Latvia. So I got interested in Royalty after that essay. Thanks to the my history teacher

[Renee]

I grew up hearing tidbits about the British Royal Family, and we were having a family BBQ and heard the news on the radio the day that Princess Diana died, but apart from that, I had no idea about the other European royal families until Mary married Frederik. I watched the coverage of their wedding on TV, and then became a huge Mary-sugar for quite a few years, and as a result, became really interested in learning about other royal families as well. I found Royal Dish after becoming disenchanted with the constant fluffy cover though. I'd read small things here and there about negative press, but that was always embedded in an article that was nothing but praise for her, and I wanted to find a more objective source of information.

I love the pomp and ceremony that comes with the official events, and the idea of a family, rather than an elected head of state, being a country's symbol of unity. Antiquated notions, I know, but I'm a huge traditionalist. My biggest fear is of the royal families, one by one, being 'booted out' as their countries become republics, and having the traditions and ceremony and history being 'booted out' as well.

[temi]

My mom had wedding fever when Lady Diana came on the scene. Really Royal Watching wasn't a thing before her - Royal magazines became an industry because of her and any magazine with her on the cover sold out.

Mom woke me up at the crack of dawn to witness the historical event. The flowers, the music, the dress! It was a nice mom and me moment and I have been interested in royalty ever since.

[CyrilSebastian]

My maternal grandfather has spoken often about Count Laszlo Szechenyi and Count Joseph Mailath of Hungary. After I learned about these gentlemen, I began to read about Queen Victoria of Great Britain.

[MarieQueenie]

Believe it or not, I was a fan of Mary's before her wedding, having come across her story through the Australian tabloids. Then her rude behaviour on her wedding day - telling off her bridesmaids on camera! - shocked me.

The former site RoyalBlue is where I met Maria and all the other old hands ... most of us were banned for calling out Mary's behaviour over about three years, till the Dish began - coming up to seven years ago, folks! Or is it eight! Wow!!!!!!!

Huge thanks to Thomas and Maria yet again!

We belived in the fairytale, and liked mary when we first saw her.

[lilyrose]

In fourth grade, we watched Anastasia, and one of our teachers told us that while much of the story was fantasy, the family really was killed and that the "oldest child was only 13" (of course, in reality, it was the youngest!). I was obsessed with the movie and shortly after, checked out Anastasia's Album from the library and fell in love with the story of the Romanovs. My knowledge of 19th and 20th century royals was pretty huge, but at the time, I didn't really know much about other royal families aside from the British one (and only, as someone elsewhere in the thread mentioned, about the Queen, Charles, Diana, William and Harry). I remember lugging around the almost 700-page long A Lifelong Passion in middle school and reading it whenever I got a chance in class. I was even a member of an alternate history Romanov role-playing forum, which I actually think may still be active to this day, though I haven't posted there in ages.

My dad is our family historian and thanks to him, I discovered a love for geneaology, and in particular, royal geneaology. I wish I could show y'all how many files I have on my computer from when I made family trees of Queen Victoria's descendants. I'm about 20% of the way through porting my information over to Ancestry and putting it in tree form there as well. I don't know why but it's such a fun hobby for me. Probably most of middle and early high school, I was more interested in the older royals, starting with the Victoria era royals, and then Tudors, Valois, Bourbons, etc. I read a ton of those Royal Diaries books in elementary and middle school, which led to reading Jean Plaidy and other historical fiction authors. Definitely went through a Ptolemaic and Ancient Egypt period.

I became interested in modern royals in 2005, around the time of Christian of Denmark's birth. I was a member of the Alexander Palace Time Machine forums and I remember it being mentioned on there. Then, I discovered a whole world of modern royals and spent a love of time at the Royal Forums. Amazingly, I still remember Christian's birth was even mentioned as an AP blurb in the international column of my local newspaper! I actually wrote congratulations letters to both Fred & Mary, and Felipe & Letizia on the births of their babies. I got a lovely card from Fred and Mary and a paper telegram from Felipe and Letizia, but unfortunately, they both got lost and probably thrown out moving to and from my dorms or apartments in college

[fruela]

I have always been interested in royalty -only one among family and friends.  I  grew up under a dictatorship.There used to be an annual magazine at home where you could find information about most (if I remember well --the Reds  ) countries  in the world. When I searched for information about Spain,it read more or less as follows: Spain's state model -Monarchy ... while  Franco was in power and there wasn't a monarch anywhere in the country -- or a royalist,or anything. That piece of info always puzzled me,but you couldn't ask anyone. Anyway, I find this world fascinating, and I firmly believe that some republics miss that I-don't-know-what of grandeur , secrecy ,mystery, elite or you name it. Some presidential republics  follow a much more regal protocol than almost any European monarchy.

[georgette]

At school in the 60’s we collected National Savings Stamps with Charles and Anne on them and I wanted to learn more about these kids ...it went on from there ...

[Barrie]

My grandmother was a member of the monarchist league of Canada. Magazines galore around the house.

[Duchess of Verona]

For me is was Princess Diana. We were born a year apart and I could not believe that a girl my age was going to marry the most eligible bachelor in the world and be the Queen of England. He was so much older than she. I remember thinking my parents would lock me in a closet before they let a teenage me marry a man that much older.

[anastasia beaverhausen]

For me is was Princess Diana. We were born a year apart and I could not believe that a girl my age was going to marry the most eligible bachelor in the world and be the Queen of England. He was so much older than she. I remember thinking my parents would lock me in a closet before they let a teenage me marry a man that much older.

Me too DoV!  I was absolutely horrified.

But I remember being entranced by the jewelry first.

[queen_v]

2011, THAT wedding.
Before that I  had some interest in royals as Bulgaria has a royal family() and I saw some pictures of William when he was young but the wedding really sparked my interest in royals and began to visit this forum from time to time.

[CyrilSebastian]

2011, THAT wedding.
Before that I  had some interest in royals as Bulgaria has a royal family() and I saw some pictures of William when he was young but the wedding really sparked my interest in royals and began to visit this forum from time to time.

             
 
queen_v, I like how you expressed that Prince William's and Catherine's wedding sparked your interest in royalty. I am glad they decided to be married at Westminster Abbey, a very beautiful church with centuries of history.

[thecrownjewelthief]

It was Diana for me as well, but her death. I was in elementary school and remember watching the breaking news while eating breakfast at my grandparents' house on a tiny TV in their kitchen. It's one of my most vivid memories of my childhood. I had no idea princesses were real until then and I was hooked (and went full-on obsessed). I remember watching the entire funeral and realizing Elton John was the same person from the Lion King soundtrack I owned. My mom still has a trunk at her house with all of the newspapers I saved after Diana's death, commemorative magazines, a music box that plays Candle in the Wind, books... I even made a scrapbook of news articles. I was a weird kid.

Anyway, I've calmed down since then (I was eight!), but that started me on royals. My aunts would give me old copies of Majesty magazine - one of them is even named after Elizabeth and Philip, so maybe it's a little genetic - so I learned all about other royal families. Princess Michael sticks out as someone I saw in them as well!