You’ve seen the photos. The dresses. The headlines. But what is it really like to report on the royals for a living?

In this TNOTY episode, Kristin Contino, senior royal and celebrity editor for Marie Claire, joins me to talk about the surprising realities of royal journalism. Kristin shares about balancing public interest with palace access to what it’s like to pitch royal stories when the royal family is on vacation. 

Kristin and I get into the careful choreography behind press coverage, Kristin’s take on Princess Kate’s most emotionally resonant moments, and the power of fashion to tell a story.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• The complexities of reporting on Meghan and Kate with nuance (13:39)
• Kristin’s favorite Princess Kate look of all time (17:48)
• How royal fashion sparked a career pivot (20:34)
• Surprising behind-the-scenes work done by the royals (32:38)
• Writing novels, covering royal events, and pitching stories daily (39:37)

If you’ve ever been drawn to a world that feels just out of reach, or wondered what it takes to tell stories about the people living in it, this episode is for you. I loved this conversation with Kristin because it reminded me that there’s always more to the story, especially when we take the time to look closer.

Tune in, share it with a friend, and let me know what resonated most.

You can watch this interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rO75OP8bLk0

For a full transcript and more, check out our blog post: https://www.lindsaycz.com/show-notes/kristin-contino-19

Learn more from Kristin Contino on Instagram: @royallykristinc

Check out Marie Claire's royal section: https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/royals/ 

[00:00:17] Lindsay: What was it?

[00:00:22] Lindsay: Like every day.

[00:00:45] Lindsay: Hey guys, and welcome to this episode of Things No One Tells You, or TNOTY as we like to refer to it. This is a very special episode. They're all special, but the reason I say this is special is because it's that certain time of year, it's fall, which I love. I cannot get enough of the pumpkin, everything.

[00:01:29] Cup of tea, no pun intended, but I loved every second of it. So that's why I am so excited to share this episode with Kristin Contino, who writes about the Royals for Marie Claire, and she's amazing. Real quick, I wanna start with a little bit of levity. If you follow me socially, then you know that I like to do a joke of the day, so I brought one.

[00:01:58] Oh, it's good. Admit it. But anyway, Kristin Contino, so she writes for Marie Claire Magazine and everything that goes along with it. I expected in this conversation to hear behind-the-scenes royal stories. Everything about the fashion. The protocol, which I find fascinating, the flashy moments, and she definitely delivers on that.

[00:02:44] He also labeled them without relief and as a reminder that even their headlines have real cost, and in that emotional space. Orla, their usually invisible do, has become meaningful, making small appearances and videos, and also portraits as a quiet connection, a sort of nod to everyday life, which I think is also very interesting.

[00:03:34] am one of those people who loves to pay attention to the storylines that come out. I actually forced my husband to ve brunch and make pancakes during the royal wedding. So I think this is amazing. But, so Kristen, I've just explained, what it is that you do working for Marie Claire, the senior editor for Royals and Celebrity.

[00:04:05] Kristin: No, I think it's very similar. I mean, it's just different topics, but,

[00:04:21] Kristin: I think what I found personally interesting, and this probably isn't true for everyone in the industry, but I grew up, my mom loving Princess Diana and all that in the eighties and nineties. And so that was something always kind of in the background of my life, and starting as a royal fan and then kind of progressing that into my career.

[00:05:11] It's not the same. And that's not really in a negative sense, per se. It's just different. Like I was with my friends in June, we went over to London and we were at Royal Ascot and a few events, and

[00:05:25] Kristin: Yeah. Which was so exciting. Yeah, we definitely have to talk about that.

[00:05:45] Lindsay: Well, so I, I really value, when I look back at how I started my first job in sports was I actually had been news first, and then I had an opportunity to go and work at a TV station in Miami. And my job description then became that. I was entering the sports department there, but my main job and focus was to report and host for a show called Fins TV.

[00:06:33] So, Kristen, what is it like, like as it was relative to me learning the inner workings of the team and Sure. There's a PR director, PR people that you have to ask about. What is it like, he infrastructure of the royal family as it pertains to what you have to deal with as a journalist? Like, how do you do your job?

[00:07:13] And sometimes you're more, with the British royal family, they're very good about sending out press releases, ahead of time, like. Princess Kate has an embargoed event in two days or whatever. So you know, you'll know about it in advance, and it'll seem like, oh, she made a surprise visit, but everybody is briefed about it ahead of time.

[00:07:40] Kristin: Yeah.

[00:07:42] Kristin: Yeah. And they'll, which is great that they let you know, the journalists know because then you can prepare in advance and know, okay, like this is happening that day.

[00:08:06] Lindsay: Has that happened to you? Can you share what it has?

[00:08:26] like something has happened, or I was on a cruise ship when Kate's cancer diagnosis was announced. I was with my family, literally starting a cruise. And I got an email from, I was just kinda scrolling my emails, waiting for a show to start or whatever we were doing, and I was like, oh my God.

[00:09:04] It's much more difficult than here, ] would say.

[00:09:24] Like, do you, would you have a one-on-one relationship where you could say, Hey, I would love to do this. Let me talk to your team.

[00:09:33] Lindsay: And they, do you have opportunities where you get to talk to them?

[00:09:44] I interviewed Meghan last fall, so, so. Yeah, and I've met William before. Yeah, it's nice when you can have those kinds of one-on-one conversations, versus just like at an event or you're in a group of people just kind of watching what they're doing. And it's a much more human connection, and think, like when I was saying, what people don't tell you or whatever.

[00:10:34] Lindsay: Right, and you're getting to know the right, who they are at the core, what the things are that are relatable in your own life, et cetera. So it could, if you have a story idea to write something, can you bring it to their press team? Is that how that works?

[00:10:57] and it's nice to have those relationships with people and, collaborative and then, they, it'll go the other way as well. Like, oh, we have this, it's coming up, I would love for you guys to cover it. Just what happened when I interviewed Meghan last year? So nice to have those relationships.

[00:11:22] Kristin: It was great. I went to Venice to interview her, and she was with an organization that, arch, well their foundation. Yes. Works with, called the Welcome Project. And there are some women from Afghanistan who have resettled in the US, and they get together; they're all in that general area in Southern California.

[00:12:07] And then, I got to speak with her afterward and just hear more about the work she does with them. And, she's just so invested in hearing about their stories. And the women just loved her so much, and it was just really sweet to see. There was one. Who was she? She was younger, in her early twenties, I think, maybe.

[00:12:38] Lindsay: What is your take? I've watched a few episodes of her show on Netflix. I love it. I love the feel of it. Yeah. And I just was curious what you think, but also maybe what you sense as a perception from the other side, from the Royal family.

[00:13:15], I loved it, but yeah, I mean, there's always that side of people who are just going to be negative about anything she does. So it's interesting. This kind of royal community, and especially on social media, people are very active, in the royal fandom, on social media. So I see both sides of everything kind of all the time.

[00:14:20] Lindsay: Well, so what is your take on that relationship with the royal family? With Kate and Meghan?

[00:14:42] Lindsay: You're dialed in with both of their teams. Right. So, I would imagine maybe some people aren't, if you're a journalist, maybe you are. But yeah, so I just thought, I think your perspective is really interesting.

[00:14:59] and I think. What I find personally difficult is, if you're writing a story about Meghan or Harry and it's positive, then you'll see people, I mean, literally this week I saw someone writing something like that who very much doesn't like them, saying, oh, you, someone, so must be a mouthpiece for the Sussexes.

[00:15:42] Lindsay: Right. It could. I get that because I think sometimes it's like if you are on the. If you have access and if you get a story that you're like, oh, that's, that is happening, that is a cool thing. Right. It's like perception can be such a driving force. And I do, I think about that a lot, actually. In journalism, it's like.

[00:16:24] And how much has any of this for you changed because of social media?

[00:16:45] What was it like? It was like Dover sole…

[00:16:52] Kristin: Like, not every day, but she ate it a lot. And yeah, it was one of the royal chefs who had talked about her simple lunches and that she used to eat, fish a la carte, and Dover sole and stuff like that. And people love that stuff. Like, just stuff about what they eat or things about their houses or those kinds of little things that make them.

[00:17:32] Lindsay: It's like the 25 things no one knows about you.Yeah. So, from your perspective, what do you think is the most interesting outfit that Princess Kate has ever worn? Do you have one? Do you have a favorite?

[00:18:05] It was just, yes. Go. That is my favorite outfit that she's ever worn. It was just so unexpected. She doesn't usually go that over-the-top glam, and I just thought that was amazing. Like the sequin cape, it was great. I actually have, you probably can't see it on my wall, like under the 10, there's a little illustration of her wearing that.

[00:18:27] Kristin: My friend gave me that as a gift.

[00:18:39] Kristin: So, my mom, Princess Diana, all that stuff. I always loved Princess Diana, and so when I was little, that was my thing.

[00:19:07] So I don't. I think, like when I was there, I really cared that much about the Royals. Like my friends and I were supposed to go to Buckingham Palace on a tour, and we skipped it and went to the pub. So that tells you my level of interest at the time. Okay. Yeah. And it was more like when William and Kate were dating, and when they got engaged, that's when I first became really more invested because I was personally very interested in her fashion.

[00:20:06] Lindsay: And you're in Philly, right? Yeah. Okay. Okay. So that meant that you were getting on a plane and you were going.

[00:20:34] But I wouldn't say that my royal fandom really began until like 2010, and I started blogging because I was so interested in royal fashion, and that led to me writing for a Royal News site called Royal Central. And then from there, that's when I got my job at Page Six, and I was always freelancing, writing, and editing.

[00:21:19] I think it's very helpful in my job, and I try to be, when I can, responsive. It's not always possible to respond to people, but I know what it feels like to be on that end and sending pitches and just getting ignored. So I think. It's definitely good to have that background, and like that background in pitching and being able to craft stories is really, yeah.

[00:22:07] Kristin: So Kate, in particular, her 2010s era of fashion. That's probably one of my favorite fashion times for her. But her and Pippa because, Pippa at the time was photographed like every day walking through London, and I loved her fashion too. I, she, and

[00:22:40] Kristin: She just was at, what was it? It was a race, and I, yes, the same thing. I was like, Where has she been? Because it was really the first time she's been spotted in public all year. Really?

[00:22:50] Kristin: In a public event.

[00:22:54] Kristin: Yes. Yeah, I don't know why she doesn't go to more things, but, yeah, I was very invested in Pippa at the time too, so I, just loved how they dressed and it was more, it was relatable to someone who was, in their late twenties, early thirties, buying from Zara or, I, I remember the first dress that I wanna say. It was like. 2011 or 12, I guess. Kate wore the Zara dress, and it was a black and white kind of brocade dress with a bubble skirt, and that was the first thing I ever bought that she had worn. And it, I just feel so special when you can track that down and you're like, I'm wearing the same thing as them.

[00:23:59] Lindsay: That's really cool. How much do you think that their lives are just like ours? Are they or not?. And I'm talking now about the Royal focusing on Kate, and

[00:24:20] Like Kate and William will go to their sports matches, soccer, whatever they're doing. Justt like normal parents. And I know, just like some friends in the UK who know people who are in similar circles, say that, they're very involved with that kind of thing. Like they're just.

[00:25:03] and they definitely are. Keeping them out of the public eye while still kind of bringing them to things and showing pictures when they can. So I think it is a nice balance. I think as they get older, they'll probably have to bring them to more things and have the public know them better, with George, at least, since he's going to be the king. So it'll be interesting when they start to do that.

[00:25:46] Right. So is it, what would you say is something that has surprised you that you learned after the fact, after you've gotten the job that you have?

[00:26:13] And so I would do celebrities as a whole, a lot of housewives and stuff like that. And King Kardashian and everybody, and also the Royals. And so it would be fewer and far between when I would cover Royals, 'cause they're not always out and about. There's not always something to write about.

[00:26:50] So in, yeah, in terms of that, I guess it's surprising when you realize, oh, like you have to think of things to come up with and write about during a time when you know there's really nothing going on in, kind of royal circles that call it silly season, because that's when. The media starts. Making up shit.

[00:27:11] Kristin: Not, just like coming up with things to come up with or stir the pot because nothing is going on. So yeah, it's, this will actually be my first summer in silly season, so to speak. So it should be interesting. But I think it's good to flex your journalistic skills in that sense?

[00:27:52] I have a former butler. A lot of the former Palace staff will go on these kinds of PR retainers, where they'll work with an agency, and they send out quotes and things like that from them. So those are always like great sources, like Princess Diana's former Butler, Paul Burrell, does a lot of that stuff.

[00:28:46] S,o like anything that comes out, about this person said she did this in the eighties, or people are always interested in that, and it's surprising how many new stories you can. Come up with just people doing interviews or on social media or whatever, or sharing, her hairdresser, sharing a tidbit about some interaction they had, or those types of things.

[00:29:28] Lindsay: What is the royal family's perspective on people who you said go on retainer after?

[00:29:41] Kristin: Yeah, I mean, I don't know about some of the, there's a few, butlers or gardeners or cooks or whatever, and right. I don't really know what their opinions are them specifically. I know, with Paul Burrell, there was, I don't know if you know a lot about him, but.

[00:30:16] It's interesting, though, because. The Queen, when she was a child, had a nanny, and it was her nanny and Princess Margaret’s, and she went on and wrote a book, and the Queen Mother had approved her, I guess, to write these stories for a magazine. And she ended up getting banished, like by the royal family.

[00:31:12] Lindsay: Right? Or I guess it depends, right? Like what is content, but you're, it is fascinating. If you could you could choose a theme, a story that you would love to write, do you have something out there that you would love to be able to get access to talk about or explore?

[00:31:54] Soft causes, and so to go for something like that is not really the norm. And Queen Camilla is the same. She does a lot of domestic violence work, and I think the two of them are just fascinating, like what they do in terms of that. But also, Sophie has traveled to Ukraine and to places that most real women like wouldn't necessarily go. So, I would love to talk to her about that. That would probably be my number one.

[00:32:38] Kristin: I think kind of going back to what I just said is the amount of work that they do for these charities and causes around the world, and not just in Britain, but you know, around the world. I think. Maybe a lot of people think like, oh, they're just raiding around in fancy dresses and Taxpayers paying for them, but they do so much, in terms of these organizations, nd like Prince William has his Earth Prize and is working with climate change and environmental things and all these things.

[00:33:34] So I think that sometimes, I mean, Americans definitely probably don't know as much about that kind of stuff because I think Americans are more interested in the drama aspects of stories and. The clothes, probably.

[00:34:05] Like, or is it really heavy-handed, have times changed, or is it like you are expected to do this? You know what I'm saying?

[00:34:19] Lindsay: Well, no, I mean, could be a cause, but I just mean like the day to day, like what are they expected to do day to day, how they have to carry themselves.

[00:34:51] People don't share how difficult it is after you get cancer treatment. And it was, I just found that so eye-opening because to me, that sounded really authentic. Like, wow, she's admitting this thing that is, yeah, has the potential to be hugely relatable and especially here in the us, just so, I think such a thing that people can say, oh my gosh, yes.

[00:35:37] but I don't know, maybe it's not, but I thought, and so I guess my point is how much. It seems to me like this is gonna sound horrible, but she plays the game very well, and I think she's someone that I would just love to be friends with, and that she seems so put together, so confident, and like she knows how to handle her stuff.

[00:36:00] Kristin: Yeah, she does.

[00:36:01] Kristin: I think it's, she does a balance of telling you something, but not telling too much. Like, we were saying with her, talking about what it was like having cancer. Like, at no point in that did she say, I really, it was like when you have, so it's, yeah, so it's personal, but at the same time, it's like she could, you could relate that to anyone.

[00:36:45] Lindsay: That's very interesting because I squarely took it like she's saying hers to the point that I was like, oh my goodness, like this must have been more intense than maybe other people, people really realized. So that is,

[00:37:15] and she has said things about. Herself personally before, but I think that, when she is sharing stuff, like she's definitely careful of, what she is sharing and trying to keep as much personal as she can. 'cause it's such a, it's such a private battle and a private experience that I think, she needs to keep some of that, to herself.

[00:37:57] Right. Thank you. You're welcome. You're welcome. So is there something that you can share that you have coming up, that you're writing about, that people, that you can tease for us? What can people look for? Besides the outfit that you shared?

[00:38:16] So yeah, since it is a slower time, it's, there's not any big, Wimbledon was just there. Yeah. And, I just did a story about Royal Ascot that was really fun to work on. So I don't have any big things like that coming up yet. But yeah. It's always, there's always something which I think is one of the best parts of the job is that there's always something, something to write about.

[00:38:58] Lindsay: And do you have to come to the table with your things, or will you have an editor or someone who's like, Hey, I want this X, Y, Z.

[00:39:07] Kristin: Yeah, I come I do my own ideas every day. So that's nice, 'cause it's not always that way, in journalism. But yeah, I come up with my own pitches every day, which is great. And, being able to have that control over what you're writing, I think, is really important.

.[00:39:37] Lindsay: Besides writing for Marie Claire, you've also written books, novels? Okay. Can you share what you've written about?

[00:40:08] and then, she goes on a hoarding reality show with her daughter, who was a morning host in New York. So that was a lot of fun to write. And I think, the research part, like there's a scene where they go, she and the. Boyfriend, later husband, goes to Diana and Charles' wedding and camps out. And it's really fun to kind of write that from the experience of someone who has been to a royal wedding, but you know, in this era, not that era, and researching that.

[00:40:57] Then yeah, Prince William actually has a copy of a house full of Windsor. When I was at the Coronation, they did an event, William and Kate at a pub in London, and my friends and I had literally just got off the plane. Went to go, hang out there. And, so we met William and Kate were kind of on the other side of the crowd, and I was going to give her the book.

[00:41:34] So that was, yeah, surreal. That happened. But yeah, he was great about it. And yeah, it was just funny because I was like, they went to this pub. Did you get any feedback from him? I didn't. I shoulda have asked later. I never did. If Kate actually

[00:41:59] That's awesome. Kristen, is there anything else that you wanted to share before we end?

[00:42:11] Lindsay: Tell me what Royal Ascot is?

[00:42:13] Lindsay: Yeah. I've heard great things. I know that you like a horseback ride. That's something that. You picked up later, too. I would love to hear. Do you? How's that going for you?

[00:42:40] Yeah. And I mean, only as a kid had been on only rides or on vacation on a little trek, nothing crazy. So I was a straight-up beginner. And so I've been doing it since, yeah, she died in 2022, so coming up on three years.

[00:42:59] Kristin: No.

[00:43:00] Kristin: Not at all.

[00:43:27] Yeah. And I think, I totally believe that because I think horses are so, like, they know what you're thinkin'. So yeah, I love it. But real ASCO is really fun just in the sense that it's nothing like in the US, where you could go to the Kentucky Derby, which I haven't been to yet, but you know, people are wearing hats and whatever.

[00:43:55] Lindsay: Wow.

[00:44:05] Or anything unless, yeah, they have to tell you if you're allowed because it's a certain temperature. And they hadn't, and the guys I was with were dying, it was so hot.

[00:44:18] Kristin: You're just tradition. But yeah, they were sweating to death.

[00:44:25] Kristin: But it's so fun. Just to see even the fashion, anybody who's interested in fashion, like when you go to a race, there's always, yeah. The most interesting outfits and hats and everything, and yeah, it's a really great day out. I mean, there's nothing like it.

[00:44:50] Kristin: So polka dots, specifically white dresses with black polka dots. Wow. If I had like a dollar for every time I saw someone wearing one at Royal Oco, really? I could have bought a bottle of champagne. Like it was crazy though. My friend got dragged into a news segment on ITV racing because they were like, We're doing a story about people wearing polka.

[00:45:29] And the butter yellow, which I feel like should be over by now, but it's not.

[00:45:47] Kristin: Yes.

[00:45:49] So again, every you people can read, about fashion and the Royals and celebrity, and Marie Claire, that's where you, you do your stuff. Do your writing anywhere. Where else can people follow you? Where should people go?

[00:46:08] Lindsay: Amazing. Thank you so much.

[00:46:28] And also it made me think about how much pressure also that must be in a way to just. Keep their relationships up as she talked about having an exclusive and taking that to the press team. It sounds like a really fun job, but also one that comes with a lot of high, high demand and big pressure.

[00:47:06] So, Kristin Contino, you can read her work. And Marie Claire, we know that there will be a lot more coming up. And as always, thank you for listening to this episode of Tina Knotty. If there's something that you would love to hear us talk about, we wanna hear from you. And also, if you could leave a review, follow us, and subscribe.

[00:47:42] Listeners, we would love to grow this community. We are so grateful that you're a part of it. See you next time.