Famous or royalty? When it comes to identifying the ginger, one can’t look past their connections to both royalty and celebrity. And given that in today’s landscape of reality television and pop culture iconography, celebrity and royalty are essentially one and the same, we thought we’d break down some of those connections. Perhaps your ginger friend is set for stardom …
Origins: Redheads and royalty … So many of the Tudors had, or at least have been portrayed as having, red hair. Descriptions from the day, as well as artistic renderings, suggest a link between royalty and gingerness. Plus, the medieval standard for beauty was a golden-red hair colouring throughout the time period.
Royal reds … The list of redheaded royals is mighty long, but here are a few: Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII, Henry VIII’s brother Arthur, Mary I, James V, Lady Jane Grey, Lettice Knollys, Prince Harry and Ed Sheeran.
So, does having red hair make you a royal? In some cases, it might! Well, sort of. What is incredible to note is that by the time Queen Elizabeth I passed away, England had seen 138 consecutive years of redheaded royal reign, with either a ginger king or queen in power for well over a century.
The impact of royal reds … Given that gingers were so synonymous with the monarchy, it seems likely that this established some social conditioning. Men and women of the time would probably have found redheadedness to be a sign of high status, helping gingers to thrive and the gene to live on. This same form of social conditioning might just be seen in today’s celebrity culture …
Is it easier to become famous as a redhead? Given the proclivity for famous non-gingers to go red, we think there must be something about being a redhead that enhances fame and appeal. It seems that, for those at the top, being redheaded is a great advantage, and it’s this tradition of redheads in the spotlight that has helped shape and build the cliched characteristics we now recognise and love.
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