We just had a fascinating live conversation with journalist Tom Sykes, who covers the royal family for The Daily Beast and now in his newsletter, The Royalist, on the eve of Donald Trump’s second state visit to the U.K. We talked about what the visit means (and of course asked whether the British could keep Trump), but more importantly got into why it’s important to tell and understand the royals — their story isn’t just about celebrity, but about money and power and the inner workings of politics. Sykes told us about:
Why the British royal family isn’t just symbolically powerful — the wealth and land they control (including the entire British coastal seabed) entwines their fortunes with those of the U.K. in a way that would be hard to untangle, and that few people even understand
How Meghan and Harry thought they could redefine royalty for the 21st century, and why he thinks they’ve failed.
How the royals represent a civilizational and institutional continuity that’s disappeared from U.S. politics, whether a president fills a “king-shaped hole” — and whether Americans might really want a king themselves
Even if you don’t think you’re interested in the royal family, you won’t want to miss any of it. Just click on the video player above to watch the entire conversation.
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Join us for more Live conversation this week!
Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 17, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, we’ll talk with author Nicholas Boggs about his new biography of James Baldwin.
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