How many syllables in the word royal?

Answer 1

There are 2. Roy-al.

It is quite possible to argue that there is only 1 syllable in royal. Few people pronounce the word 'roy - al' by stressing both syllables. For most it's a running sound with one syllable. 'roy-l'.

The same is true of the word 'lion'. You can hear the second syllable attempting to emerge more in 'lion' than in 'royal', but traditionally poets have considered both words as being either one or two syllables.