Women are the main movers and shakers in the kingdoms. They own most of the property, they run the businesses, and they are almost always the positions of power in the governments. With King Wendell's great triumph, there has been a natural, unforced movement towards gender equality. But in kingdoms like the Second Kingdom, the culture has remained rigidly matriarchal. However, all kingdoms are matrilineal. (Why? Because it's so much easier.)
The main focus of the much-neglected religion of the kingdoms is working hard and living well. Living well includes a healthy sex life, provided it's with your legal spouse. The Ten Commandments of the Tenth Kingdom fit very well, except for the idols bit. The churches are usually used as meeting places, for town meetings and celebrations as well. Almost all the holidays in the Nine Kingdoms involve feasting and rejoicing, the only holiday that doesn't is Chaste Moon. Chaste Moon is to balance the rest of the year, and one is to live with moderation. Just so people appreciate the regular holidays.
The kingdoms are generally agrarian, and lacking in the sudden development of technology. There is a bit more equality in rural areas, as everyone has to work very hard just to survive. The cities are riddled with the new steam technology; much like a child with a new toy, the city-dwellers are obsessed. Steam-powered cars, machines like weaving looms, homes with steam heating and lighting. All but the slums have at least one or two gadgets. It is a time of wealth for all, however, and poverty rates have plummeted.
Magic is just as abundant as the people, with the exception of cities. The most common magic users are women known as green witches. They specialize in charms, such as keeping deer out of crops, or protection for horses from gopher holes. For a town to be on the map, they must have a green witch. They cannot create, only alter what is.