The first modern example of the American interest in British royal events was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Hers was the first coronation to ever be broadcast on television, and people across the world were enthralled. Americans could turn on their television and watch a stately procession of thousands of people, elegant bouquets, glowing jewels, and a government different from their own. It was a source of lavish peculiarity, and Americans were drawn to it.

Of course, the time period certainly has something to do with the interest. America in the early 1950s was booming. It was looking toward positive things, away from the recent wars as the Korean War was ending, and the average middle class American had more time and money to spend on frivolous things. That meant more people had access to the royal event.

There are other arguments that Americans were facing rising racial tension and governmental distrust and so they were looking to the past as a means of stability, but that theory seems to be trying to make more out of the story than there is: people had television, the coronation was televised, and American culture was ripe for an over-the-top story.