American people are fascinated with the royal family and have been for generations. The accent, the beautiful buildings and the extravagant weddings are all major parts of the English royal culture. The first royal wedding broadcasted on television was the marriage of Princess Margaret to Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960. According to BBC, over 20 million viewers tuned in to watch this royal event. Americans love celebrities, and the royal family is at the top of the podium.

Almost everyday there are stories and pictures released about the royal family. Their faces are on the cover of magazines at every grocery store. Whether it’s big news, like a wedding, or something as simple as them being spotted on the street, the paparazzi stalks the royal family. Is this much public attention healthy?

“I feel like there’s more stories about celebrities or the royal family, their life, what they are doing or weddings than any real news,” sophomore Emily E. said.

However, senior Christopher O. disagrees and said the news he sees is about 75 real news and only 25 percent celebrity news stories.

On Aug. 31, 1997 Princess Diana of Wales famously died in a car accident. It is suspected the accident happened because the paparazzi chased her. When the driver tried getting away from the paparazzi, the car crashed killing Princess Diana, her companion and the driver. This tragic event attracted more attention to the obsession with the royal family and celebrities in general.

The public’s demand for entertainment stories and private information on celebrities is never ending; they always want more. This obsession with other peoples’ lives has gotten so far out of hand where it’s taken over the magazines and the entertainment industry overall. World Newsmedia Network said in 2015, 33 percent of the news from social media sites are categorized as entertainment while only 18 percent was general news stories.

According to the Pew Research Center, 40 percent of the media was celebrity news and Hollywood gossip while only four percent covered international news in 2007. Part of this is due to a controversy surrounding the Queen of England. During that year, BBC One released a series “Monarchy: The Royal Family At Work”. BBC showed a group of journalists a trailer in which they rearranged footage out of chronological order so that it would appear as if  Queen Elizabeth ll had stormed out of a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz. After the trailer got out, the Chief Creative Officer of RDF Media, Stephen Lambert, resigned and the series continued with a new project team. The trailer was made in hopes of increasing the number of viewers because of the drama the Queen supposedly caused. Ever since this incident, tensions between the royal family and the BBC media remain high.

Once the public learned of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s engagement, the media has followed their every move. Being royalty causes plenty of attention, even a week long discussion about Markle’s choice to wear a sleeveless dress at her engagement interview. The smallest of stories centered around the royal family spread everywhere.

“I see way more articles and twitter topics about celebrities than important news stories to the point where I have to subscribe to certain subjects on my news app so I can see real news,” sophomore Madison S. said.

In the world of news, entertainment has become the main motive for writing. Being in the royal family, fame is expected but sometimes, like the case of Princess Diana, the want for a story or a picture can be taken too far. People love to read interesting stories about celebrities, but the obsession has gotten out of hand.