Month: May 2026

On the Question of Whether Britain Actually Needs a Monarchy, I Have Spent Three Weeks Thinking About and Arrived Exactly Nowhere

 Isla Campbell  May 25, 2026

Isla Campbell works through the constitutional case, the economic case, the cultural case, and the ‘but what would we do…

The Coronation Was Extraordinary and Also Slightly Ridiculous and That Is Exactly Right for Britain

 Isla Campbell  May 25, 2026

Isla Campbell on the ceremony that cost sixty million pounds, involved a golden coach, a very long Archbishop, and an…

Everything You Need to Know About the Royal Family Is in How They Handle a Crisis

 Isla Campbell  May 25, 2026

Isla Campbell on the institutional instincts that surface under pressure, what ‘never complain, never explain’ means in a social media…

The King Waved at Me and Now I Have Opinions About the Monarchy

 Isla Campbell  May 25, 2026

Isla Campbell on a brief encounter outside Clarence House, the strange intimacy of modern royalty, and why she cannot decide…

The Palace’s Instagram Strategy Is Very Good and I Resent How Much It Is Working on Me

 Isla Campbell  May 25, 2026

Isla Campbell on the Royal Family’s carefully curated social media presence, the choreography behind the candid photograph, and why she…

Royal Ascot, Garden Parties, and the Persistent British Talent for Pretending That Class Does Not Exist While Enforcing It Through Hat Requirements

 Isla Campbell  May 22, 2026

Isla Campbell Attends the Kind of Event That Britain Does Best and Wonders Whether the People Around Her Are Enjoying…

The Trooping the Colour Debrief: An Annual Ritual Examined With Genuine Affection and Only Moderate Scepticism

 Isla Campbell  May 22, 2026

Isla Campbell Reports on the Year’s Most Elaborate Display of Military Pageantry, Considers What It Means, and Admits That She…

What the Royals Did This Week and Why It Was Either Charming or a Masterclass in Managed Optics, Depending on Your Prior Beliefs About Monarchy

 Isla Campbell  May 22, 2026

Isla Campbell on the Palace’s Spring Offensive: Garden Parties, Strategic Smiling, and the Ongoing Project of Making Hereditary Power Feel…

The Coronation Economy: How Much the Royal Family Is Worth to Britain and Whether That Justifies Everything Else

 Isla Campbell  May 22, 2026

Isla Campbell Does the Numbers on Royal Tourism, Brand Britain, and the Specific Question of Whether the Institution of Monarchy…

Meghan and Harry: A Progress Report From Someone Who Has Tried Very Hard to Stop Caring

 Isla Campbell  May 22, 2026

Isla Campbell Checks In on the Sussex Situation, Concludes That the Story Is Now About the Media’s Relationship With Its…