Why do we hear so much about the British royal family, but no others?

The Spanish royal family has been in the news lately, because of the (alleged) criminal activities of Princess Cristina de Borbón and her husband, Iñaki Urdangarín. Likewise, the Swedish royal family has been in the world press this week because Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland, gave birth to a daughter, Princess Leonore, Duchess of Gotland.

No doubt the global popularity of the British royal family is connected to their relationship with the Commonwealth of Nations, which has 53 member states (mostly territories of the former British Empire). Commonwealth nations span the globe, much like the former empire.

If you live in an English-speaking country, chances are that the British royal family will be featured in the popular press on a daily basis, whereas other royals appear only when something remarkable occurs (whether real or fabricated for the cause of 'journalism'). If you are interested in following the activities of other royal families (and you don't reside in their country of origin) there are Web sites you can visit and magazines to which you can subscribe. But no other royal family has the global appeal and coverage of the British, for better or worse.

fyi, David Beckham was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Elizabeth II in 2003. Only the two highest ranks (Knight Grand Cross and Knight Commander, for a male) automatically entitle the recipient to become a knight and allow use of the title "Sir' before his first name. David Beckham is not entitled to be styled as Sir David.

EDIT: There is a good summation of the world's royal families in a Washington Post article from 2013:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/...

Don't know where you're getting your Information but David Beckham hasn't been given a Knighthood so shouldn't be called "Sir David Beckham", he's still Mr David Beckham at the moment, Perhaps the British Royals feature more because the Queen is Queen of 16 countries AND Head of the Commonwealth.

BTW David Beckham is not and will never be royalty.

English Language papers tend to reflect monarchs of their part of the world - which is dominated by the UK. People are inexplicably interested in the goings on of the British Royal Family, seemingly to to the exclusion of all others. Having travelled around the world I find more people know about Princess Diana than they probably do about their own republican governments.

I think it is probably fair to say however that if (for example) Thai newspapers printed stuff about their royal family in the same way that the Briitsh family is reported, they would find themselves shut down pretty quickly. Similarly you don't hear so much about Saudi Arabia or similar kingdoms since few would openly criticise such regimes if they knew what was good for them.

David Beckham is not knighted, nor is Posh Spice a lady.

I've noticed that as well. They're really popular amongst many in the world, though the other European royal families do not get a lot of attention. Of course they DO, but not as much attention as the British royals. This also counts for members of the Asian royal houses, like Japan or Thailand and such, or Saudi Arabia's royal house. Or even the African royal houses.

In general, they're just popular.

The British monarchy is the most popular monarchy in the world. Britain once held a vast empire, and even though many countries, former colonies, have become independent, there still is an interest in them. Britain's pageantry, pomp and circumstance is eye-catching.

The royals of Monaco are also of interest because they are the children of the late Oscar-winning actress, Grace Kelly.

Plus also the British royal family is the most prominent family of any family royal or otherwise. And English speaking nations, plus the European nations the most wealthiest and prominent on the globe, ties it's history and heritage to the British royal family..

I didn't know there was a Queen of Afghanistan till recently.

The House of Windsor is the royal family of 16 separate, independent kingdoms worldwide.

And it's only British in Britain, nowhere else.

Those kingdoms comprise a sixth of the world's surface and 1.8 billion people - 30% of humanity's total.

No other royal family compares to that, which is why the Windsors are bigger news than anything the US has going for it.

David Beckham has nothing to do with royalty, so you have not heard as much as you think!

The reason you hear so much about the British royal family is because you are listening to English language news sources. If you want to hear about Japanese news pertaining to the royal family there, read a Japanese newspaper.

David Beckham has not been knighted, nor is he anything to do with the royal family.

It's to do with language - Britain and the US both speak English so you get more British news.

Check your American history. The United States was a group of BRITISH colonies.

Parent country. Same language. Most interesting to the US.