Vinland Saga

Edit: Also Attack on Titan for royal drama

• Berserk (1997) features a subplot regarding the politics of the Midland monarchy.

• Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

• Cross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon

• Gankutsuou has no actual royals, but is filled to the brim with drama surrounding nobility.

• Le Chevalier d’Eon

• Ranking of Kings

• For a more unconventional take on royal dynamics, Revolutionary Girl Utena is a great pick.

• Much of Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World’s first season is defined by this.

• The Rose of Versailles

• Sailor Moon features royal drama as a subplot.

Lots of the Otome Villainess genre these days has some element of court drama. Stuff like broken engagements, high-stakes tea parties, and spilled drinks on ball gowns are part and parcel with the genre, though they also tend to inject quite a bit of humor. Each of them have their own spin on things though, whether that be a unique magic system or what have you. Some recent ones I enjoyed would be I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History, Villainess Level 99 (more on the humorous side), Endo and Kobayashi Live!, and Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion (a bit more serious).

You can check out the Royal Affairs tag on AniList to get a browseable list of royal-inclined anime, but it isn’t going to be limited to Western-inspired courts since shows like The Apothecary Diaries or My Happy Marriage would also be listed there despite being set in China and Japan respectively.

A bit of a curveball is that a lot of the gundam or other space opera type series tend to have a large focus on political intrigue in addition to the battles. I remember that being a big theme when I watched Gundam Wing as well as Escaflowne and I have heard people say the same about Legend of the Galactic Heroes (but I haven’t seen that one).

The first thing that popped into my head was the classic shojo manga Rose Of Versailles/Versailles No Bara, which conveniently has a 2025 animated movie remake on Netflix

This story is from a manga from the 70s, there’s the 1979-80 anime TV show, a 1987 animated movie.

I’ve never watched it myself, but it’s one of the most famous bishojo stories out there, so there should be something good about it.

Another is Legend of Galactic Heroes, which features a space monarchy that resembles 19th century aristocracy, fighting space battles with Napoleonic era tactics. But a lot of the story is about the politics on both sides of the war. There is/was a recent TV remake: Die Neue These

Does it have to be a show? Tales from Earthsea is pretty good if you haven’t seen it already.

Gonna echo Rose of Versailles