The past week, the news cycle turned for a brief while away from stories of gloom and doom to dwell on the spectacle of the British royals, celebrating the platinum jubilee of the reign of Elizabeth the second. True, it all felt a bit indulgent and voyeuristic, even somewhat unseemly in this age of critical thought, where so much of the world’s ills can be traced back to the violence of colonialism. Yet, we found ourselves watching, taking in the opulence and the pageantry, marveling at this nonagenarian who appeared on that balcony alongside three generations of offspring, wanting more stories, more detail, even as we continued to wonder about the relevance of the monarchy.
Going deep
Perhaps it’s no surprise then, that Vanity Fair magazine chose to launch the first season of its podcast Dynasty, just ahead of the jubilee, taking advantage in the pause between anticipated new episodes of The Crown and the ending of many other dramas that have pandered to our continuing fascination with the British aristocracy. This debut season, hosted by the magazine’s writers Katie Nicholl and Erin Vanderhoof, “goes deep on the modern Windsors,” featuring interviews with a range of royal-watchers as well as material from media archives, both historical and contemporary. The hosts are in turn sympathetic and critical of the institution and its members, attempting to understand how and why they remain such a central part of the British social and cultural imagination, despite all the bad behaviour of recent years — the “piles of dirt pathologically brushed under the rug”.
Starting with Queen Elizabeth’s approach to the role, based on her maxim “never complain, never explain” the podcast seeks to portray the Windsors as a family (never really ordinary). How do they function as parents, as spouses, as siblings? What are they like as people, rather than as public figures? In one episode, Nicholl and Vanderhoof look at how Diana, Kate and Meghan “revolutionised” royal motherhood, while in another, they trace Harry’s struggle to find meaning independent of his heritage, and expectedly, re-examine his exit from royal duties.
Of course, all this is the basic stock-in-trade of society magazines, the better of which tend to tread a fine line between cultural critique and smartly written gossip. But then that’s what makes it all so legitimately entertaining, I suppose, this sense that one is deliberating on the complexities of life — in this case, as experienced by the rich, famous, and powerful. To be fair, the hosts also do not completely shy away from the messier aspects of imperial power and politics, with an episode that briefly opens up the distressing questions of colonialism and the monarchy’s role in the slave trade. This is however not the central thrust of the podcast’s narrative, which is much more about the interpersonal and social dynamics of the royal family. In the series trailer, Nicholl describes Dynasty as a podcast “dedicated to revealing the shocking behavior, devastating rifts, secret alliances, epic romances and complicated dynamics that shape the most influential families in the world today.”
Whether the Windsors have real influence in a political sense is arguable, but they do occupy an inordinate amount of our attention, and space in popular culture, making compelling appearances in fact and fiction. If you’re one of those who cannot resist a royal story, you will find the podcast enjoyable. As for me, I’m curious to see which other influential families will make the cut.
Usha Raman, Hyderabad-based writer and academic, is a neatnik fighting a losing battle with the clutter in her head.
