Ever-Reliable Women’s Weekly

The commemorative edition for 80 years of The Australian Women’s Weekly contains many photos and snippets of the royals, not only the British ones.  In this pictorial record of women’s social history in 20th century Australia, hardly a page goes by without a reference to or pictures of royals including several full-length glamour shots of QEII.  The section on the 1940s is titled “Fighting for King and country: patriotism and practicality” even though we were 40 years into the Federation by then and this was the catch cry for our participation in WWI as part of the British Empire!  By the 2000s, the Weekly proclaims “our own royal”, that is Princess Mary of Denmark “although the British royal family continues to be of fascination”.  When it comes to royals, the magazine has supplied a wholesome diet of regal allure and fashion over the years but not nearly enough critical analysis of what monarchy is really about and why it isn’t right for our population of equals.