Introducing Mandy – Our Royal Correspondent

Editor’s Note: Last week I wrote about a lovely little website dedicated to the Royal Family called Mandy’s Royalty and since we don’t cover the Royal Family nearly enough on Anglotopia, I asked Mandy Littlefield if she would be interested in writing a weekly column about the Royal Family – so now Anglotopia has it’s latest corresspondent – our own Royal Correspondent. Look for Mandy’s posts every week on Tuesday. She’ll basically what’s going on with the Royal Family for the week. For now, here’s her Anglophile Story.

My mother always told me how much I resemble her mother and the English side of our family. Intrigued, I asked my grandmother about her parents and what life was like for them in England. Though my gran was born in Massachusetts, some of her siblings had been born in the UK and her parents kept up with English tradition. One of her sisters even had a picture of the Queen on her wall, a practice that is probably familiar to many British-Americans.

I began genealogical research at age seventeen. I soon succumbed to the typical internet roadmap – one search topic lead to another, and soon I was miles away from genealogy and deep into the heart of British history. It was here that my passion for history and research really began.

The Royal Family was quickly becoming a favorite topic of discussion in my house. The books about Churchill, the Queen, and other historic figures began piling up. All of the research gleaned from these books was put on my website, which was titled “Mandy’s British Royalty”.  I was named as a top royal expert by my peers, which was exciting and deeply rewarding.

Soon I turned my hand to commentary, writing about the royal news stories of the day that eventually became a podcast and a blog. These tools allowed for greater interaction with my audience, and I found many friends and colleagues with similar ideas. The internet was getting bigger every day, and soon a large royal community formed.

My interest in Anglo-American relations was also growing, and I began “The British American Group”. This group was put together with the aim of uniting expatriate Britons with Americans of British heritage so that we could all share a common bond. I had the good fortune of talking to many people who were of Welsh, Scottish, or English descent, and whether they were royalists or not, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that we  could share the history of our countries and the United Kingdom as a whole.

Eleven years later, I look back at the all of the work and wonder where the time has gone! I hope to see many more years of writing about the royal families of the world and supporting the British expatriate community. Most importantly, I look forward to being a part of Anglotopia and meeting new Anglophiles every day.

Cheers!

Mandy Littlefield