The Royalty Nerd

This is a question I get asked quite a bit. How do I know all of this info about the royal families? I’ve been a royal watcher for over ten years and honestly, a lot of this is just from memory. I read something somewhere seven years ago and tucked that info into some part of my brain. I am an all or nothing sort of person; I let things consume my very being and devour every bit of information out there. But if you’re a normal person, here are some of my favourite resources for all your royal watching needs.

Royal Family Websites:

It seems so simple and yet royal family websites are often overlooked. Yes, depending on how many languages you know you may have to translate a few things, but thankfully Google Chrome will automatically do this for you. Some websites are definitely updated more than others, and some contain more information than others too. But even if you can’t scroll through collections, most royal sites contain a calendar or diary where you can see upcoming royal events and engagements which is very helpful.

Some royal family sites contain a lot of information! In particular, the Danish, Swedish, and Luxembourgish sites have a lot of photos, info, and articles to read through. Definitely give that a look.

Royal Collection Trust:

This is definitely focused on the British royal family, but it’s a huge resource for photos and info. This is a catalogue of jewelry, artwork, clothing, and royal owned items featured in the royal collection trust. Sometimes just searching something like ‘ring’ or ‘pearl’ will bring up a ton of little pieces that have a royal provenance. There is also a lot of articles about British royal events such as coronations and all that something like that entails. I love perusing it!

Auction Houses:

Looking through luxury auction sites such as Sotheby’s or Christie’s often makes my bank account sad, but they are also a great source of photos and info on jewels. Keep an eye out for auctions titled something like ‘magnificent and noble jewels’ or ‘important jewels’ for auction lots with royal provenance. Often, but not always, the houses will include a history of the jewels too. Sometimes you will only see a jewel listed as ‘property of a lady’ or ‘property of a noble family’ and that’s when you may have to do some digging. You can also look through past auctions too!

Jeweller Sites:

Visiting sites for jewellers to the royals will also make my bank account sad. Jewellers like Van Cleef and Arpels, Chaumet, or Cartier are great sources for info on new high jewelry pieces, but many sites also include articles on pieces created by those houses.

Royal Blogs:

There are so many royal blogs out there that I have read through a million times over. These are blogs that have been active far longer than I, and those who run them are incredibly talented at finding the info you need. My personal favourite is The Royal Watcher; Saad is truly an encyclopedia of royal knowledge! Other faves include Tiara Mania, which is a great catalogue of just about every tiara and the Order of Sartorial Splendour, which I’m not entirely sure is still running but was great back in the day.

Royal Books:

This is another entry that might seem a bit obvious. I read a lot, and I read a lot of non-fiction in particular. So why not combine my two loves, royal watching and reading, and read about royals?

Sometimes royal history books can be a bit dry and tedious and I have definitely waded my way through some of those. I plan on doing some book reviews in the future so keep an eye out for those!

Jewel Books:

Continuing on from royal books are jewel books (bit clunky to write but I’m not sure how else to describe them). You might call them glorified picture books, but there are a ton of books out there that are from certain jewellers or a certain collection. Unfortunately, many can be on the more expensive side but the information and photos they contain make it worth it if you are genuinely interested in this sort of thing. Again, I plan on doing book reviews and I’ll include my jewel books in that!

Museums:

These days, many museums have great online features. You can view exhibits, collections, and tons of information on the pieces there. And with such a huge amount of museums to choose from, you can really spend a lot of time digging through things. Some great ones are the Victoria & Albert museum, the Louvre, and the Met.

Wikipedia:

This might be a bit silly, and I can still hear my middle school teachers telling me not to use Wikipedia as a source. While I can’t say I would cite Wikipedia in an academic paper, it is actually a great site for getting an overview of people or things. Royal families have extensive pages and blue links upon blue links to click on. Confused about how many kids Queen Victoria had? Check Wikipedia. Wondering about when Queen Margrethe II ascended the throne? Check Wikipedia. It’s a great way to get acquainted with who’s who in royal circles.

Wikimedia:

Finally, we get to Wikimedia. This is honestly a new resource for me. One day I was desperate to find a photo of a tiara and came across Wikimedia. It’s exactly what it sounds like, Wikipedia for photos. The best thing about it is that the photos you can find on there are often difficult to find anywhere else.

I hope this helps! As always, feel free to ask any royal questions you may have and I will do my best to answer or at least point you in the right direction.