Yesterday was the annual Queen’s Birthday holiday in New Zealand and parts of Australia, a day off work to observe the official birthday of HM Queen Elizabeth II. Her actual birthday is in April, so I don’t know why we celebrate it in June. As a child, I was told it was because June was summer in England. That’s true, but the English don’t have a holiday in June, so why do we?
Anyway, that raises this week’s question: do you like reading novels with royalty themes?
I have to say yes and no.
I don’t mind reading speculative fiction with made-up royal characters.
After all, made-up royal characters fit with a made-up world and made-up religion. It’s always interesting to see how authors create their worlds, cultures, and religions. Royalty is often a part of that. And it’s almost to be expected in Christian speculative fiction, with themes of God as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and us as His adoptive children–which makes us all princes and princesses.
I also don’t mind reading fictionalised versions of real, historical events involving royalty.
Having said that, I have read rather too many novels about the Tudors in particular and English royalty in general, and I’d welcome good fiction—especially Christian fiction—that showed royalty from other countries.
However, I’m not a big fan of contemporary fiction (especially romance) featuring royal families.
I’m not interested in fictionalised versions of the lives of still-living people—I haven’t even watched The Crown. I’m also not interested in made-up contemporary royal families, perhaps because the lives of our real royal family have more than enough drama.
