Taylor Swift getting married to Travis Kelce in New York this summer could easily be described as the ultimate celebrity event. There was hype, intrigue, tight media control and plenty of global attention.

Some described it as being the US’s version of a royal wedding. But there is a key difference.

A royal wedding is a celebration of a monarchy, a long-established institution in many countries. By contrast, the marriage of Swift and Kelce in Madison Square Gardens on July 3 2026 was the latest instalment of a very modern journey. For our research contends that Swift has transcended celebrity and become an institution in her own right, with her own global influence.

This is no mean feat for the 36-year-old from Pennsylvania. Institutions are the building blocks of our social world, providing us with meanings and roles that we embrace or inhabit as we navigate our lives.

The British monarchy, for example, can be one basis by which people in the UK understand the public realm and their role in it. The King has a well defined role in British society, because he is representing a well........

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