Royal romances have always been fantasies of transformation. How does new-generation teen fiction reflect queer and diverse desires?
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Friday, August 11, 2023
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The queer injection into the young adult royal romance reflects a broader shift in what’s being published and read.
Key Points:
- The queer injection into the young adult royal romance reflects a broader shift in what’s being published and read.
- Last year, research showed LGBTQ fiction sales in the US jumped 39% from the same period in the previous year.
- And young adult fiction grew in particular, with 1.3 million more books sold than the previous year.
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Royal romance tropes
- It’s been more than 20 years since Anne Hathaway graced our screens in the film adaptation of Meg Cabot’s young adult royal romance The Princess Diaries (2001).
- Other familiar tropes of the royal romance include the “surprise reveal”, where one half of a couple’s royal identity is uncovered, like in Netflix’s The Princess Switch.
A viral success
- Released in 2019, Casey McQuiston’s book quickly went viral, becoming an instant New York Times bestseller, winning awards and making best books lists.
- The classic “enemies-to-lovers” romance trope takes on international significance with the offspring of two world leaders involved.
- Alex and Henry’s initial dislike for each other boils over and catches media attention after they ruin the cake at a royal wedding.
- Read more:
Spring Fire, the first lesbian pulp fiction hit, satisfied censors with its unhappy ending – but its 'forbidden love' reflected real desires
More royal romances that explore difference
- Other popular young adult royal romances explore queer relationships, too.
- Her Royal Highness, by Rachel Hawkins, is set in a university in Scotland, where American Millie discovers her roommate Flora is a Scottish princess.
- Her Royal Highness is a companion story to Hawkins’ first (heteronormative) royal romance novel, Prince Charming (originally titled “Royals”).
- Other young adult royal romances have maintained the focus on boy-girl couples, but engaged with contemporary audiences in other ways, by exploring concerns around class, wealth and gendered expectations.