BARBARA GEIER: Is the British royal family living in the wrong country?

By the time you read this, we will, of course, have survived another royal wedding. The excitement, the frenzy, the silliness, the gossip, the drama and, of course, the dress. Did you watch it? If you’re German, it’s quite likely that you did and maybe even in London – because based on figures released by Opodo in April, Germany was the number one country travelling to London at the time of the wedding.

I’m not surprised. Actually, I know someone who was gifted a special ‘London Royal Wedding Trip’ by her husband. Ok, the wedding was maybe not the main reason for this city break but it was certainly timed accordingly. The excitement in the weeks ahead seemed to be bigger in Germany than here. You should have seen the amount of media coverage, with special programmes and documentaries and, of course, a close monitoring of the Meghan-father-will-he-will-he-not-situation. Then there was everyone asking “where are you watching it”, and you begin to wonder if maybe the British royal family is living in the wrong country …. (Yes, I can hear what some of you are saying now – “But they are! German ancestors and all that!”)

However, it’s not just the Buckingham Palace shenanigans that Germans are so fascinated by. It’s all things royal in general. A Spanish, Danish or Swedish royal wedding would have been of (almost) the same interest and German gossip magazines and celebrity TV programmes are always full of aristocratic ‘stuff’. Is it because we got rid of our own royals a long time ago and are secretly still craving the pomp and circumstance related to it? What’s the fascination? Or is it the German ‘romantic soul’ who can’t quite live without a fairy tale now and then?

Whatever it might be, I think that we can definitely get more engaged, simply because it’s got nothing to do with us directly and we don’t really need to bother about the royal family otherwise. I’ve noticed that in the UK, it’s much more a conversation about being a royalist or not, with either side being very serious about their stance. Whilst as an outsider, it’s very easy to see the whole thing as nothing more than a bit of entertainment and fun, a distraction from everyday life and reason to get together in front of a screen to slag off the worst dressed people. Yes, I watched it and if you ask me, no, I’m not a royalist. That is not a question that figures in my life. I’m just a German who simply doesn’t take certain things too seriously ….

TEXT: BARBARA GEIER | PHOTO © PEXELS.COM

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Discover Germany Magazine.’