America 250: How America Fell Back in Love with the Royal Family

0:00 A calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark Francis. As American marks it's two hundred and fiftyeth birthday, Palace Intrigue is taking a look at the Revolution from the other side of the Atlantic. Not from the perspective of George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, but from the perspective of Conjorge the Third, the Royal Court, Parliament, and ordinary Britons who watched thirteen colonies drift toward rebellion. All this week we've been following the story. In our final episode, here will see how the loss of America ultimately reshaped the monarchy itself. If you had walked through Philadelphia in July of seventeen seventy six and told the delegates gathering there that two hundred fifty years later, millions of Americans would be fascinated by the British royal family, they would have thought you were mad. Earlier this year, King Charles traveled to the US and received a welcome that would have been almost impossible for King George the Third to imagine.

1:02 There was a state dinner, there were meetings with political leaders, there was extensive coverage across American television networks and newspapers. The king traveled beyond Washington and into a small American community where people gathered simply because they wanted to see him. For several days, he occupied a place near the center of the American conversation, drawing a level of attention that many elected politicians would happily accept for themselves. What was most striking about the visit was not the scale of the welcome. That was how natural it all seemed. Nobody treated the King's presence as awkward. Nobody suggested there was anything unusual about a British monarch receiving such attention that the country founded through a rebellion against a British monarch, The visit unfolded as though this was simply the way things were supposed to work. The scene would have baffled the men gathered in Philly during the summer of seventeen seventy six. Those delegates were in the process of breaking with King George the Third. Within days, they would approve a declaration explaining exactly why they believed royal authority should end in America. Had someone informed them that a quarter of a millennium later, Americans would still be buying books about the royal family, watching royal weddings, following royal scandals, and debating the private lives of princes and princesses. Or somehow explained to them what a podcast is, they would likely have assumed the experiment had gone badly wrong. Somewhere along the way. Prince Arian Megan Markle had discussed in America on an almost daily basis, Prince William and Catherine generate enormous interest, despite living thousands of miles away. When members of the royal family visit the United States, crowds still gather when royal weddings take place. American audiences still tune in.

2:34 The monarchy occupies a place in American culture that often surprises visitors from Britain. Americans rejected monarchy as a system of government, they never entirely lost their fascination with the people who happened to be monarchs. Throughout the nineteenth century, American newspapers carried stories about Queen Victoria and her growing family, royal births, royal marriages, and royal scandals across the Atlantic. The surprising speed readers who would have fiercely defended the principles of the revolution, nevertheless found themselves curious about the people living inside Buckingham Palace. The affection came later, and it arrived through circumstances that had nothing to do with crowns, palaces or royal ceremonies. It arrived through war. When Americans looked back at the Second World War, they often focus on Winston Churchill, and rightly so. Churchill's speeches and leadership became symbols of British resistance. But Americans were also watching another story unfold. They were watching a king and queen who remained in London while bombs fell around them. George the sixth was not a naturally glamorous figure. He struggled with a stammer. He had never expected to become king.

3:37 His brother's abdication had thrust him into a role he had not sought. Yet, when Britain faced its greatest crisis in generations, he became exactly the monarch the country needed. Americans watched news rules showing the King visiting bomb damaged neighborhoods. They saw the royal family refusing to leave London. They saw Buckingham Palace itself damaged during the Blitz when Elizabeth remarked, I'm glad we've been bombed. It makes me feel like in look at the East End in the face. The statement resonated because it suggested that royal family was sharing the same risks faced by ordinary people. The monarchy was no longer being viewed through the lens of the American Revolution. That was being viewed through the lens of character. That shift was reinforced by the growing relationship between Britain and the United States. The famous nineteen thirty nine visit by King George the sixth and Queen Elizabeth to President Franklin Roosevelt's home at Hyde Park became a powerful symbol of the changing relationship between the two nations. The photographs from the visit looked nothing like the images people associated with a royal authority in the eighteenth century. There was a king, there was a president, there were hot dogs more in a moment. By the time Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in nineteen fifty two, that transformation was largely complete.

4:51 Elizabeth possessed a quality that proved enormously valuable in the television age. She became familiar. Americans saw her year after year, decade after decade, residents came and went, political leaders rose and fell, Elizabeth remained. Over the course of her reign, she met thirteen American presidents, from Harry Truman to Joe Biden. She visited the United States repeatedly and became one of the most recognizable figures in the world. Even Americans with little interest in British politics often felt they knew her. The moment that perhaps best illustrated the new relationship came during the bi centennial celebrations of nineteen seventy six. Two hundred years earlier, Americans had declared independence from her ancestor. The anniversary could easily have been uncomfortable. Instead, Elizabeth was welcomed as an honored guest. The old arguments had lost their emotional power. The Revolution remained central to American history, but it no longer defined America's relationship with the monarchy.

5:44 Then came Diana. If George the Six earned American respect and Elizabeth earned American attention, Diana captured something else entirely. She captured America's imagination. It's difficult to explain just how famous Diana became. There were movie stars, political leaders, and athletes who struggled to attract the attention she received. Americans followed every stage of her life. They watched her wedding, They followed her charitable work. They worried about her marriage, They mourned her death. For millions of Americans, Diana became the royal family. The institution suddenly felt human, It felt emotional, it felt accessible. People no longer followed royal stories because they were interested in constitutional monarchy. They followed them because they cared about the individuals involved. That change has shaped every generation since. William and Catherine inherited a level of international attention that previous heirs to the throne could scarcely have imagined. Their wedding became a global event. Their children have grown up under worldwide scrutiny. Harry and Megan carried that fascination into the age of streaming television, podcasts, social media.

6:46 Their departure from royal duties became one of the defining royal stories of the twenty first century. Years later, Americans continued to debate, discuss, and dissect every development, which brings us back to King Charles. The King who visited America earlier this year inherited an institution very different from the one his ancestor lost in seventeen seventy six. George the Third governed Colonies. Charles represents a monarchy that long ago evolved into something else. The fascination he encountered during his visit had very little to do with political authority and almost everything to do with history, tradition, continuity, and personality. The people who lined the streets to see Charles were not expressing a desire to be ruled by a king. They were participating in a relationship that has evolved over two and a half centuries into something neither side could have predicted. The Crown ceased to be a political institution in the American imagination and became something closer to a living historical drama populated by characters whose lives unfold on a global stage. Victoria, George the Six, Elizabeth, Diana, William, Catherine, Harry, Meghan, and now Charles have each become chapters in the story that Americans continue to follow with remarkable enthusiasm. If George the Third could somehow step into America in twenty twenty six, he would immediately recognize the fireworks, the flags, and the celebrations of Independence Day. What might truly surprise him would be everything that comes afterward. The country that once rejected the king remains endlessly interested in his family and they add, if you'd like to email us addresses the Palace intrigat gmail dot com, please follow us some Spotify, Apple more

8:17 than Apple of your choice. I'm Mark Francis My thanks to John McDermot. There, says Palace Intrigue. Happy birthday,