We could ignore them. We chose not to. The minor royals have exactly the kind of pointless celebrity we feed off in the 21st century. Talent is no longer considered to be a necessary, or even particularly desirable, prerequisite to fame. Nor is power.
TV presenters are now as famous as most of the people they interview.
The minor royals are being given more coverage than the Queen. But we can enjoy them or destroy them at will and either way their fate is utterly trivial.