Royal Author Reveals Prince William’s Surprising Inspiration From “The Closest Thing America Has To A Royal Family”

The British Royal Family is respected and admired around the world, especially in the United States. There is a unique fascination with Britain’s royals from Americans, with major royal events often leading to a huge influx of US tourism. While America doesn’t have a monarchy, royal fascination is high. Royal author Caroline Hallemann thinks the United States does have a royal-ish family of their own—and even Prince William is inspired.

“William had always emphasized that the Kennedy Moonshot—President John F. Kennedy’s bold statement that we would send a man to the moon and bring him safely back home within a decade—had inspired him to launch Earthshot,” Hallemann said in an interview with Town Country to promote her new book, The Kennedys and the Windsors: The Story of Two Dynasties, One Born, One Made. “Prince William brought the Earthshot Prize, his big global environmental initiative to Boston in its second year,” Hallemann said, explaining that “this visit to Boston really emphasized those ties” and the shared respect between the Windsors and the Kennedys.

During Prince William and Princess Kate’s visit to Boston, the prince “met with Caroline Kennedy multiple times on the trip, he toured the JFK Library and Museum alongside her and two of her children.” Hallemann felt this was “an interesting almost reversal of the oft-repeated statement that the Kennedys are the closest thing America has to a royal family.” Prince William acknowledged John F. Kennedy’s impact and influence beyond his presidency. “This was a British royal using the Kennedy iconography and language and legacy to help shape the narrative about a project that was important to him,” Hallemann said.

The two families are similar, but there’s a big difference between being royalty and being an American cultural dynasty.“While the royals have an official codified position in society, the Kennedys don’t,” Hallemann explained. “Hollywood’s interest in the [Kennedy] family has played a key role in keeping them top of mind in American culture for so long. But the interest is understandable.”

“The Kennedy family story is one filled with drama and a Shakespearean-level of tragedy,” Hallemann explained. Much like the fairytales tied to royalty, the Kennedy family’s story and the folklore is half the allure. “There’s also romance, infidelity, ambition, glamour, success, power and duty. It’s all very cinematic.”