Royal Deep Dive: The Best Royal Experts on the Internet
This week has raised a huge amount of interest in the British Royal Family, and it’s hard to make your way through all of the different commentators, experts, media coverage and noise to find purely factual sources. I have been following them very closely as you all know, and one of the things that I have learned is that there are a MILLION “royal experts” and politically motivated people out there. While I do follow some of the funnier and stan accounts, I wanted to break down all of my favorite people and media outlets that give (in my opinion) a nuanced look at the family, the monarchy and their work.
Also - here is a super quick list of people to AVOID. The most hated “royal experts” are Paul Burrell, Diana’s former butler, Andrew Morton, who wrote her biography, and Omid Scobie, who writes for Harper’s Bazaar is honestly weirdly obsessed with Harry and Meghan. Please definitely ignore any body language experts too!
Blogs
There are a number of great royals blogs, but they can tend to be VERY one-sided or just stan a certain person. I like to read some of the super factual/research oriented blogs, and then some of the fashion ones.
The Crown Chronicles
Founded by Victoria Howard, who has one of the best royals accounts on Twitter and Instagram, the blog is very factual, history oriented and really focuses on highlighting the work of the royal family along with milestones.
Gert’s Royals
You aren’t going to find any hot takes on this blog, but if you want to see a comprehensive list of the status of all of Prince Andrew’s Patronages, or find out how to watch the Christmas speech of every single European monarch, it has all of the facts! I use this blog to double check birthdays and big events in my month Royal Report, and rely on their Twitter account for factual, reliable information.
The Court JewelLer
The best for in depth research on tiaras, jewels, and more worn by royals around the world. When the scandal broke about Meghan wearing earrings gifted by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, I waited to see what the Court Jeweller had to say as I knew she would have very detailed posts from when they were first worn and how exactly the mystery of their provenance unfolded. I also love learning about obscure tiaras and seeing modern fashion combined with the long history of some of these pieces. She is also on Twitter and Instagram.
What Kate Wore/What Meghan Wore
There are a lot of websites that track what these two wear when they are seen in public, but I love these two blogs because they ID the actual items, but also recommend similar or less expensive items. They are also on Twitter and Instagram.
Royal Central
The site covers royalty globally, but specializes in the British Royal Family. I like that they post the news, but also opinion pieces, photos, and cover the bigger engagements. On social media you can find them on Twitter and Instagram.
Podcasts
The best single episode on Oprah’s interview with the Sussexes and the reporting on Meghan bullying staff is this one from The Times. It interviews Valentine Low, the reporter that broke the bullying story and goes in depth on how and why he reported it, as well as the timing and the fallout from the interview. It’s a very nuanced and even look at this big week in royals news.
Avoid: The Heir Pod. The host, the aforementioned Omid Scobie, is one of the people I hate most in the royals world. He is an outright Meghan and Harry stan, so while he does sometimes get good info from them, he is not in the loop on any other royals and is outright hostile towards them. He also wrote a book about the two of them that has been skewered by Meghan herself in court as an “anodyne work of fiction” - so anything he says should be taken with a huge grain of salt.
Reporters and Commentators
Royal reporters and commentators really run a huge range, with UK reporters having the most depth of knowledge and also understanding the British culture that surrounds some of the biggest issues. Having that translation has been really helpful for me, because despite our shared language, the cultures are very very different, and while many people over here approach royals as celebrities, the UK coverage of them shows the true nuance and governmental/diplomatic influence of the monarchy.
Camilla Tominey
Camilla is the Associate Editor at The Telegraph (focusing on politics and royals), one of the most reputable papers in the UK. Her reporting is very fair - and you can tell this because she gets criticized by Sussex and Cambridge fans - and her Twitter is just slightly snarkier.
Victoria Arbiter
Victoria is the Royal Columnist for 9HoneyAU and contributor to CNN and The TODAY Show. Her father Dickie Arbiter was the Press Secretary for the Queen from 1988 to 2000, and Victoria lived at Kensington Palace for a few years growing up. This gives her a unique insight into how the royal family works, and she tends to focus more on the big positive moments and historic research to give context to modern events. Recently, she reshared this article on royal titles to shed light on why Archie isn’t an HRH or a Prince - yet. Follow her on Twitter.
Victoria Murphy
Town & Country has consistently good Royals coverage, with some of the more researched reporting being done by Victoria Murphy, who also contributes to GMA. She manages to give a good overview of royal events and technicalities, without getting too bogged down in the details. She also mixes in the style and society elements that I love about T&C. You can follow her on Twitter .
Social Media Accounts
Most of the favorites I’ve already highlighted are on Twitter and/or Instagram, but here are a few others that I think are great!
@the_mountbatten_windsors is a great royal news account, but definitely pro-royal and not pro-Sussex. They post royal engagements, commentary and are super active in IG stories.
@theroyalwatcher is another favorite account for a range of royals news - they cover all of my favorites from around the world and highlight news that I don’t see in other places. If you have loved the “royal you should know about” series, this is a great account to keep up with them all!