Is royalty an ideological phenomenon or has it become a 21st-century commodity? This text offers an insight into the cultural functions of royalty. Examining the period from the 1980s to the modern day, Neil Blain and Hugh O'Donnell question the relationship between monarchies and their subjects . They identify political climate as a distinct factor in the nature of this relationship, and analyze the fluctuations of this cultural love-hate dynamic. In the volume extracts are developed and illustrated through a large range of textual examples from European and British press and television accounts to include: the British obsession with royalty in the media age; monarchy in the European media; Charles and Diana’s wedding and separation; the future of the royal phenomenon in the 21st century; and para-royals such as the Clintons, Kennedys and the Blairs.