Talking Of The Royal Family

This book is about the public's fascination with the Royal family and how it affects their everyday lives. It discusses how the Royal family is a symbol of continuity in national consciousness and how the families who talk about them are talking about more than just royalty.

The public seem to have an insatiable appetite for information about the Royal family. Every day the media carry news and pictures about the most famous family in the world. Yet social scientists have virtually ignored this strange mass obsession. Now, Michael Billig, a social psychologist, examines the significance of this interest in royalty. He argues that the Royal family is a symbol of continuity in national consciousness. He supports this claim with analyses of 63 English families discussing the Royal family. As the families talk about royalty, they are talking about much more: about gender, nationality, family life, the media, inequality, sex. Above all, they are talking about themselves. The book shows how this talk can be simultaneously serious and funny. There are jokes, criticism, praise and, above all, acceptance. Billig does much more than simply portray attitudes' towards royalty. He shows how our commonsense attitudes and ordinary desires are constructed and contributes new insights about ideology and popular memory. This book should be of interest to students of sociology, cultural studies, psychology, and the general reader.