Barbara Geier: Royal craze

You know what I think? Germany is more excited about the Queen’s Jubilee than the UK. In fact, Germany in general is very keen on the British royals in ways that people in the UK are probably not even aware of.

Just take a look at ZDF Mediathek, the online hub of one of Germany’s two public broadcasters, where at the time of writing, on the homepage you could find featured a three-part documentary series called Magie der Krone – Die Frauen der Windsors (Magic of the crown – the Windsor wives) about Kate, the Queen and Princess Diana respectively. Plus, only one click further, another five (!) documentaries on various royal family-related topics, including Trouble at Buckingham Palace (no need to explain what this one is about). By the way, the titles of these programmes are quite glorious in general. For the Kate documentary, some imaginative editor apparently thought Herzogin Kate – Märchen, Macht und Mode/ (Duchess Kate – fairy tale, power and fashion) sounds good. Or how about Royal heirs: the dropouts about Harry and Meghan? I’m trying to think if there’s any contemporary (don’t mention the war) German topic that the BBC would dedicate whole pages on iPlayer to – but can’t.

Coming back to the Queen’s Jubilee; in line with the general interest about all things British royals in Germany, rest assured the big celebration is already a hot topic in Germany. So much so that 3 nach 9, the longest running talk show on German television, hosted by the editor-in-chief of Germany’s eminent weekly Die Zeit, and Judith Rakers, who presents the Tagesschau news programme on Germany’s other public broadcaster, ARD, had invited Leontine Countess von Schmettow among its round of guests for its most recent edition in January. This lady, apart from being of ‘blue blood’ herself, is also a journalist and the ARD’s very own ‘nobility expert’ and was specifically asked to come on the show to talk about the Queen’s Jubilee, but also about the general status quo of the royal family, too.

Interestingly, and also quite typically for Germany, all the other guests on the show – and this type of particular German talk show features an eclectic mix of guests, including celebrities, politicians, authors, journalists and scientists – all expressed their admiration and respect for the Queen. For many Germans, ‘die Queen ist cool’, someone who has steadfastly weathered all kinds of storms and scandals, always in outrageously colour-coordinated outfits and without any kind of (noticeable) fuss. And given the media coverage her big anniversary is already getting now, come summer, I’m expecting lots of Leontines descending on London to report on every little detail of the festivities. And for all the Germans who need their regular dose of Kate, William & Co until then, it looks as if ZDF’s royal documentary machine has them well covered…

Barbara Geier is a London-based freelance writer, translator and communications consultant. She is also the face behind www.germanyiswunderbar.com, a German travel and tourism guide and blog that was set up together with UK travel writer Andrew Eames in 2010.