Each State Has A Slightly Different Flavor Of Monarchy - Tumblr Posts
I dream of a Hallmark royal romance where the worldbuilding goes beyond "there's a tiny British-flavored Western European nation." Let's branch out. Let's go crazy. Let's put this monarchy in North America so we've got this entire alternate history of political and cultural differences that our spunky commoner has to navigate.
Our options include:
Most of the US exists as we know it, but there are a handful of micronations that for some reason maintained their independence and established monarchies. These nations would have a history of distrust of the wider United States and be fiercely patriotic--devotion to their national identity is the only thing that has kept their kingdom alive. Spunky Commoner would be a bit uncomfortable in this kingdom. Why are these people so devoted to a monarchy in a modern democratic continent? It's weird. If she starts a romance with their charming single prince, the wider public would not be happy with the prospect of an American queen. The prince would have to do a lot of explaining about sociopolitical history to make this cute American understand his nation, and he'd have to do some serious PR to bring his people around if he wants to marry her.
The US consists of little more than the original thirteen colonies, and the rest of the continent is made up of kingdoms that gained their independence from other European nations but maintained a lot of cultural ties. The middle of the country is a French-styled monarchy based in New Orleans. California is ruled by a very Spanish monarchy. There's a czar in Alaska. Maine became a monarchy when they seceded from Massachusetts. Our Spunky Commoner is familiar with the history of this multi-cultural continent, but there are a lot more cultural and political differences to navigate--potential language barriers, various alliances with other monarchies that could be jeopardized if he married a US commoner, etc.
The thirteen colonies never managed to come together into one nation and remained separate states, some that stayed republics and some that became monarchies. Each of these states made their own purchases and alliances that extended their territory--some of which added to the original states and some that eventually broke off to form their own nations. Cultures have evolved in each state based upon alliances and immigration, and there's a complicated history of wars between the states. Things have been pretty stable since WWII, and our Spunky Commoner from a republic is traveling to different nations when she catches the eye of a foreign prince--which could have a massive effect upon this fractured continent.