How do Queen Victoria and Sisi reflect the privileges and/or burdens of royalty? Do you think today's "royalty" (i.e., celebrities) have similar privileges and/or burdens?

Queen Victoria offers a different perspective on a woman with unusual power. What do you think of her in this story? How do she and Sisi reflect the privileges and/or burdens of royalty? Do you think today's "royalty" (i.e., celebrities) have similar privileges and/or burdens? Have these changed over the past few decades?

I think both of them were powerful and yet so restricted in so many ways. The rules of "proper" behavior affected every moment of their days and controlled their every move. Queen Victoria sort of thrived on it and used her powers to reinforce her superiority and authority with impunity. Sisi was just as imperious but chaffed continuously at the shackles of her position and stretched the rules regularly to fit her desires.
Today's royalty also have a lot of rules of etiquette but Princess Diana and now Princess Kate both claim a little more independence of movement and interaction with the world. Being royal or being a celebrity will always be both a burden and a blessing but some handle the situation a little more gracefully and kindly than others.

Most of today's royalty appear to be tourist attractions, emblems of a long-ago empire without being "the ruling classes". They have tremendous privileges and trappings of wealth paired with obligations to make stirring, inspiring public appearances without much real responsiblity. Queen Victoria took her role as monarch seriously and enforced the rules of civil behavior and propriety. Empress Elizabeth/Sisi seemed to chafe more as a royal with privilege but little real power. Today's royal family and celebrities have tremendous advantages but are ever in the public eye. I tend to like the ones who remain humble and gracious to their admiring public.