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For the past five years, we have devoted our May issue to dynasties—monarchical, political, and metaphorical. This spring, with the coronation of King Charles in Great Britain; the Dominion lawsuit looming over media mogul Rupert Murdoch and Fox News, his crown jewel; and the final season of Succession in full swing, we are as obsessed as ever with the outsize role powerful families play in our culture.
The last time London staged a coronation, the cutting-edge broadcast technology was television. This time around, as Erin Vanderhoof reports, the British royals contend with a media landscape that is far less monolithic, a cacophony of social platforms and tabloid sites. Whether the rite of passage that will officially make Charles Britain’s king can cut through the noise depends largely on the family’s ability to evolve their own strategies of dealing with the press.
And on that subject, Gabriel Sherman, who has reported on Fox and the Murdochs for more than a decade, digs deep into the ties that bind and the lines that divide the 92-year-old titan, his six children, and his four ex-wives to game out the future of their media empire. The drama may get deliciously petty, but the arc is Shakespearean and the stakes are sky-high, for us arguably as much as for them.
If you prefer your tyrannical patriarchs and squabbling siblings fictional, tune in to the new season of Still Watching, our TV podcast, in which VF chief critic Richard Lawson and staff writer Chris Murphy dissect each episode of the new season of Succession, with special guests from the cast and crew. Meanwhile, this spring, Vanity Fair Studios and Scout Productions present The Secrets of Hillsong, a four-part documentary series premiering on FX May 19 based on the magazine’s original reporting on the rise and fall of Pastor Carl Lentz of the famed Hillsong Church, its history of harboring abuse, and the dark family saga behind the church’s founding.
Since 2014, VF contributing photographer Mark Seliger has created a warm and welcoming studio space at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, where the evening’s triumphant stars come to pose with their little gold men, and other decked-out guests sit for pictures to commemorate the occasion. The portraits that emerge feel timeless; in fact, they are accomplished in less than five minutes on average, a feat all the more remarkable given that Mark shoots for about nine hours straight amid the buzz of Hollywood’s biggest night out.
I was struck, watching this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, by the moving speeches from so many first-time winners, from Michelle Yeoh to Brendan Fraser to Ke Huy Quan—each acceptance a reminder that though awards aren’t synonymous with value, they can be richly deserved symbols of recognition and accomplishment. The mood at this year’s party was jubilant, the spirit of victory infectious. And Mark’s portraits, as ever, provide a beautiful, intimate window into the night.