When it comes to fans of the royal family, Gen Z probably isn’t the age range that automatically springs to mind.
In a recent poll commissioned by Panorama, only 32% of 18-24-year-olds backed the monarchy, compared with 78% of over-65s. Yet, hop onto social media – particularly viral video platform TikTok, a favourite among younger age groups – and it seems all things royal are thriving.
The ‘royal family’ hashtag has over 25.5 billion views, with everything from videos outlining the line of succession, sharing unsubstantiated royal gossip, and thanking the late queen all in the mix – and the coronation is expected to create a boom in this content. So, could TikTok be making the royals ‘cool’ again?
Staying relevant
“I am not sure TikTok is making them ‘cool’ again, but it is certainly helping to keep them relevant and in the public eye,” says Andy Barr, CEO and social media expert at digital PR and social agency 10 Yetis.
“TikTok has undoubtedly helped the current, and former, royals stretch their global fan appeal,” adds Barr. “From wild conspiracy theories through to the mundane facts of day-to-day royal life, it is clear that audiences from around the world are desperate to get as much information as possible.”
The Duke of and Duchess of Sussex as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales are frequently hot topics. Platforms like TikTok now play a big part in keeping royal gossip going, with hashtags making it easy for audiences to follow along.
“It is interesting to see that William and Kate are trailing Harry and Meghan in the hashtag use war. William and Kate have a combined 14.7 billion hashtag mentions, whilst Harry and Meghan have 19.4 billion,” says Barr.
“King Charles is lagging far behind in his own hashtag mentions, with a relatively low 4.7 billion. But that could all change this weekend, once the coronation has taken place.”
Building brands
Of course, the vast majority of royal content on social media is being shared by individual content creators and sometimes other media outlets.
However, there is an official Royal Family account on Instagram and Twitter, and various younger royals have their own Instagram profiles.
Amelia Sordell, a personal branding expert and founder of Klowt, says having social media platforms can potentially help people in the public eye to steer their own ‘brands’.
“Social media has been taken up by celebrities as a way to connect with – and monetise – their audience. So it’s not surprising that the royals are active in social media,” says Sordell.
“As a personal branding consultant, it’s a smart move for the longevity of the royal family, and to regain some of their ‘cool’ after the family drama with Harry, and a long-standing belief that the royals are out of touch,” she adds.
Parallels in pop culture
Netflix series The Crown has seen rapid growth on TikTok too, with clips from the show being reposted on the platform under a tag with some 4.6 billion views.
This has coincided with a resurgence in sympathy for Diana, Princess of Wales, with many content creators using the show as a jumping off point to discuss her (the tag ‘Princess Diana’ has over 13 billion views). It’s a similar story on Instagram, with fan accounts cropping up.
Whether social media platforms like TikTok are making the royal family cool again is perhaps a matter of opinion.
But one thing is certain – all the content is certainly keeping them trending.
