The most surprising celebrity quotes about the British Royal Family

People like famous historians, current celebrities, Oscar-winning actors, and the royal family themselves have had a thing or two to say about the monarchy over the years. We’ve taken a selection of our favourite quotes, shining an unbiased light on the opinions of those surrounding the crown.

"I believe that the royal family are a focus of patriotism, of loyalty, of affection and of esteem. That is a rare combination, and we should value it highly."

- Margaret Thatcher (AZ Quotes)

"When you look at Prince Charles, don't you think that someone in the Royal family knew someone in the Royal family?"

- Robin Williams (AZ Quotes)

"I mean in England we have a Queen for ff sake. We have to call her things like 'Your Majesty' like she's all majestic. She's just a person… Your Highness'! What, she's high up, above us, at the top of a class pyramid on a shelf of money with her own face on it."

- Russel Brand (Revolution, Brand’s 2014 book)

"I'd like to see a much more open Monarchy, myself. I used to think they were completely useless and we should get rid of them. I don't necessarily feel that way anymore. I'm still ambivalent, I still loathe the British class system, and the Royal family are the apex of the British class system."

- Helen Mirren (AZ Quotes)

"I like all the families in the U.K. But what I like about the idea of the royal family is... they seem like they're well educated and there's something admirable about them. And the Queen... she reminds me of my grandma."

- Will.I.am (AZ Quotes)

"A succession of births, deaths, and marriages in the royal family, and several high-profile scandals, have collided with the rise of an internet culture evermore obsessed with celebrity... a fundamental shift in the sentiment of a growing faction of the public: that the Windsors are like any other celebrity family in the public eye, and that they deserve to be treated as such."

- Elizabeth Paton (New York Times)

"People are so much more fascinated by the royal family generally than in England."

- Vanessa Kirby (AZ Quotes)

"England is a domestic country. Here the home is revered and the hearth sacred. The nation is represented by a family,--the Royal family,--and if that family is educated with a sense of responsibility and a sentiment of public duty, it is difficult to exaggerate the salutary influence it may exercise over a nation."

- Benjamin Disraeli (AZ Quotes)

"…they were just so normal… They didn't make me feel like, 'Oh, I'm scared, I can't talk to them.' They were very complimentary and they had all these questions for me. They were just very friendly and funny and sweet. I don't know, I can't complain. It was amazing."

- Billie Eilish (Jimmy Kimmel Live!)

"With the royal family, you don't want to see them as people because it takes the sheen off. They're distant, you can idealize them. But there's room to have compassion for people and see them as human beings. Just because they're royalty, it doesn't mean they don't love, or feel loss, or feel pain."

- Claire Foy (AZ Quotes)

"By 1914, the royal families of Europe were inbred to the point of pantomine. You feel about them as you do about koalas. Nothing so stupid has any right to exist on the planet. On the other hand, they are rather cute, and in grave danger of extinction due to their specialised needs."

- Nancy Banks Smith (AZ Quotes)

"It was like the royal family are our family. We all think we know them and I understand that better than anybody."

- Kerry Katona, The Sun

"I acknowledge that there's discomfort about it, and I can see why people think that way, and I have persuaded myself that the Royal Family are public property and therefore fair game."

- Dominic West, star of ‘The Crown’ (5 Live)

"The royal family's existence is a constant reminder of the hollowness of John Major's rhetoric, and idiotic statements by its leading members a constant boost to the republican cause. They're fine opening hospitals. It's when they open their mouths they get into trouble."

- Alistair Campbell (AZ Quotes)

"I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through to the inside...that there is a forward-facing way of being and then you close the door, and you go 'Oh...ok we can relax now.' But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me."

- Meghan Markle (Netflix)

"Royalty is completely different than celebrity. Royalty has a magic all its own."

- Philip Treacy (Brainy Quote)

"In a world of constant change, she was a steadying presence and a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons, including many who have never known their country without her."

- Joe and Jill Biden (Statement upon Queen Elizabeth II's death)

"Charles has big shoes to fill but he's done well so far. The Royal family is part of our heritage, it's what we do well as a country."

- Ben Nash, business manager from Cornwall (Reuters)

"Pa's staff hoped a photo of him standing alongside the world’s most revered political leader and the world’s most popular female act would earn him some positive headlines, which he sorely needed. ... His approval rating around the world was in single digits."

- Prince Harry (Spare)

"I met Prince Harry when he was about 10… I've seen him grow up and it's brilliant what he's done with his life — it's all for a great cause. He's shown people he cares and he's got a great heart and spirit."

- Geri Halliwell (The Telegraph)

"He was a pal at school, but I haven’t seen him since school…We were on the same Colts B team in 1997. I always felt slightly sorry for Will because everyone wanted to tackle the future King of England. He took all the hits. … I haven’t seen him since school, but he was a lovely man."

- Eddie Redmayne (Loaded Magazine)

"They are very funny together. My family is the same as any other family when it comes to humour behind closed doors."

- Prince Harry (Hello!)

"The very fact that [the monarchy] has continued [in Britain] is a curiosity for us: That’s the royal family we got rid of, in a sense."

- Dr. Frank Farley, professor and psychologist at Temple University (Time)

"I think so much of what I have seen play out is this idea of polarity, where if you love me, you don't have to hate her. And if you love her, you don't need to hate me."

Meghan Markle to Oprah (CBS)

"We all love the Princess of Wales, and she’s done a fantastic job… She's really faultless in everything she’s done ever since she married Prince William."

- Hugo Vickers, The Sun

"I don't believe almost anything that comes out of her mouth and I think the damage she’s done to the British monarchy and to the Queen at a time when Prince Philip is lying in hospital is enormous and frankly contemptible."

- Piers Morgan, The Standard

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