Rachel Hauck: Fascinated by royals? It's all about that romance, that romance

Rachel Hauck, author of How to Catch a Prince (out today!), book three in the Royal Wedding Series, takes a look at what fascinates us about royals and romance.

Rachel: Five a.m. Barely awake, I poured a Diet Coke and sat in front of my computer to watch Prince William, heir to the British throne, wed the woman he loved, Catherine Middleton, a commoner with a coal miner's blood in her veins.

A woman much like me. And her journey to marry a real prince captured me.

Initially, I wasn't into the whole royal thing. While I'd watched William's parents marry all those years ago, I'd lost fascination with the royals after Diana died and her beautiful face no longer graced the cover of magazines.

However, I'm a sucker for romance. Especially a royal romance. Besides all the pomp and circumstance, it just seems so surreal, fascinating, and what-is-it-really-like?

There's royal traditions and formalities. And dresses. And hats!

When news broke that the future King of England was in love with an ordinary girl, the writer, the romantic, in me woke up. Yes, at 5 a.m.

I knew little of the future Mrs. Prince William, but the moment Kate exited the car with her father to walk down the tree-lined aisle of Westminster Abbey to her true love, her real-life prince, I was a goner.

Not only was Kate beautiful, she was poised and assured, everything you expect in a future princess. Everything you imagine about a woman confident in love. Everything I imagined about myself.

Yet, what this romance writer craved was to go beyond the public into the private. What was life really like for the newest royal sensation?

I watched the William and Kate movie, but it felt planned. Was any of it true? Accurate? Details, mate, details!

I read a few biographies, but it was more of the same.

Someone tell me, What's it like to marry a prince? How does it feel? Does that reality ever fade into the background? How does William's position factor into their lives? I mean, does Kate ever wake up and think, "I married a prince, a future king"?

Does she muse over her duchess title? Does she look in the mirror and go, "I'm a duchess"?

Does she call him Prince as a pet name? (I would if my hubby had that title!)

Does he call her Duchess?

When he comes home does he kiss her? After all these years? What do they have in common? What do they talk about? Does he make her laugh? Does she remind him he's first a man and then a prince?

Does William control the telly remote?

Of all the girls in Prince William's circle, and those who wanted to be in his circle, Kate Middleton won his heart. How did she do it? And without a Disney soundtracks to boot.

This is what fascinates us about the royals. The sweet, intimate details.

There are things we'll never know about the royals' romance, but isn't it fun to imagine? It's why we love to watch, dream and speculate.

After the wedding, my imagination took over, and I created a royal world that I could live in and take readers into with me.

I researched, did my homework, studied royal life and built a kingdom where my heroes were princes.

What I loved the most about writing a royal romance was being a fly on the wall and watching my prince in Once Upon a Prince (book one) woo the common, everyday American woman he loved.

Then in Princess Ever After (book two), I loved tossing a girl who liked to tinker with classic cars into a royal role she never imagined.

In How to Catch a Prince (book three) I doubled down and drove my imagination into the world of an American heiress and a royal prince, and coupled it with hardship we rarely believe touches the elite.

Above all, I wanted to be swept away to a palace where I'd have an up-close glimpse at a handsome prince while he danced with the beauty who captured his heart. I'd ooh at the gorgeous designer gown and Christian Louboutin shoes. And listen in on the prince's private conversations.

It's the moment for me as a writer and hopefully for the reader, we are royal, a part of the story, enjoying all the behind-the-scene moments and discovering all the secrets.

When I think of royals, I think of people who have the world at their fingertips. Fame. Wealth. Power. But yet, their hearts are every bit as frail and human as yours and mine. And we're curious. "What's it like to be you?"

I asked a couple of writer friends to chime in with me. What do they love about royals and romance?

• Denise Hunter, author of The Wishing Season, says, "Royalty romance is the ultimate fantasy. It goes all the way back to Cinderella. Most of us feel so ordinary, and we wonder how it would feel if someone as extraordinary as a prince had eyes only for us? Sigh! And no matter how independent we are, I think there's a part of us that longs to be rescued sometimes."

• Susan Meissner, author of Secrets of a Charmed Life, says, "When Kate Middleton spoke her wedding vows to Prince William, it was the middle of the night on the West Coast, but there I was in my jammies, sipping PG & Tips from an English teacup, eating a raspberry scone with lemon curd, watching the beautiful spectacle as it unfolded in real time. I lived in England for three years in the late '80s and every time I was in London, I wondered — no joke — if this might be the day I would assist Princess Diana escape the paparazzi. I know I'm not alone in this fascination with princesses and royalty. And while the folks at Disney certainly capitalized on it, it did originate with them. Most girls are drawn to princesses. Unlike us, they live a life of privilege, wear beautiful clothes and live in a wondrous castle. Yet they always — just like us — find themselves challenged to find true love. And it is just that — a quest. And sooner or later we all find ourselves on it. I guess we're all princesses in that way …"

• Susan May Warren, author of Always on My Mind, says, "I'm fascinated by a 'royal' romance because I'm curious about the 'real' prince behind all the pomp and circumstance. But one doesn't have to be royal to be a prince — in a great romance, the hero is always a prince. Likewise, the heroine is a princess and the story is always a fairy tale as they go about discovering the real person behind their 'royal' exterior. This is the power of every great romance, whether a true royal or not — the opportunity to step into a fairy tale."

• Robin Lee Hatcher, author Love Without End, says, "My fascination with royalty began with Diana. Although the history of various kings and queens of England has always interested me, I couldn't say I cared much about Charles or the future of the British monarchy. Then came Diana. The wedding. The pageantry. I watched along with much of the rest of the world as she blossomed from a shy thing into a poised beauty and a loving mother. Alas, her storybook ending never came.

"I believe our fascination with the royals is because we all long to see a real-life fairy tale play out before our eyes, and as every little girl raised on Disney movies knows, the best fairy tales happen in magical castles with beautiful ball gowns and handsome princes."

Personally, I think there's a little bit of prince and princess in all of us!

What about you?

Find out more about Rachel and her books at www.rachelhauck.com.