Sunday Arts Magazine

10 Apr 2022

Dr Ted Gott, Senior Curator International Art talks about Queer Royalty

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Dr Ted Gott, Senior Curator International Art talks about Queer Royalty

Fascination with the private lives of reigning monarch has fueled speculation, rumour and debate for centuries. Surrounded by a plethora of courtiers, chroniclers and political schemers, the lives of royal rulers have historically attracted greater scrutiny than those of ordinary citizens. While royal privilege brought greater freedom from prevailing moralities and laws for monarchs who chose not to conform with social expectations, so too did their hierarchical prominence deny them privacy. The personal physician to Louis XIII of France, Jean Heroard, logged minute and intimate details of the king’s daily life for almost three decades, including for example the monarch every bowel movement.

Surviving records from various eras document the tastes and inclinations of hereditary rulers who were controversially same sex attracted. In modern times, the decline of traditional monarchies has been matched by the rise of a new kind of royalty known as gay icons or queer icons, with whom regardless of their personal sexuality or gender identity, queer people have felt an affinity through their social and political struggles. Historical figures such as Marie-Antoinette and Oscar Wilde have attained this status, as have numerous actors and performers, including Judy Garland, Madonna and Kylie Minogue.