Abstract
Coronations and investitures are revisited to reflect on how, politically and in terms of representation in the public life of the nation, the Windsors negotiated with political figures and the media to achieve a relevance and support for their continuing role. There was a will to make monarchy more accessible through such occasions, and questions are asked about how far this succeeded, and how important the monarchical role was perceived to be by the political elites of the day as well as by the media industry. The willingness of the Windsors to utilise advances in media technology in relation to such events, as part of their modernisation, is also considered. This chapter will ask how far public celebratory ceremonials were changed in ways that has made them particularly ‘Windsor’, and the extent to which it was the royal family that drove change.
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Notes
- 1.
Traditionally, there could, at a coronation, be no presence of rulers of equal standing to prevent any suggestion that either they were there to pay fealty (swear loyalty) to the British monarch, or that the British monarch was paying fealty to them.
- 2.
It should be noted, however, that the key moment of the coronation, the anointing of the monarch by the Archbishop of Canterbury, is still shielded from view. For the longer history of the ceremony, see Roy Strong (2005) Coronation. A History of Kingship and the British Monarchy (London: Harper Press).
- 3.
The Liber Regalis has (in some version or other) been at the core of English (later British) coronation rituals since the eight century, probably, and lays down the basic text of various coronation oaths and promises. See Joseph Strutt and J. R. Planché (1842) The Regal and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of England (London: Bohn).
- 4.
See, for example, Joseph Canning (2005) A History of Medieval Political Thought, 300–1450 (Abingdon: Routledge), especially pp54–8. The endorsement of the Church could, of course, prove problematic when or if the Church turned against the ruler they had endowed with authority by the grace of God, as figures including Henry II and King John discovered, but usually the interests of both sides were mutually supportive.
- 5.
For the complexities of monarchy and power in the early modern period, especially the transitional Tudor period, see Alice Hunt (2008) The Drama of Coronation: Medieval Ceremony in Early Modern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
- 6.
For a more detailed discussion, see Linda Colley (2006) Britons: Forging the Nation 1707–1837 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press).
- 7.
Andrew Spencer (2015) ‘The Coronation Oath in English Politics 1272–1399’ in B. Thompson and J. Watts (eds) Political Society in Later Medieval England (Woodbridge: Boydell), 38–54, p39.
- 8.
This is not to say that she did not have political favourites, but this was more to do with personalities than substantial political meddling, certainly when it came to domestic politics (she was more active—if not always successfully so—in interfering with foreign policy issues). See, for instance, Frank Hardie (1963) The Political Influence of Queen Victoria, 1861–1901 (London: Routledge). Roy Strong antedates the withdrawal of the monarch from party politics to the reign of George III, and certainly (thanks to his illness, and especially after the débâcle over North America) he was not actively involved in partisan politics in the latter part of his reign, but his heir’s continuing involvement, along with the activities of his younger son, rather challenges that conclusion. See Strong, Coronation, pp361–2.
- 9.
Most recently, it could be argued, Tony Blair did so very successfully for New Labour and himself in 1997, with the aftermath of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, whom he dubbed ‘the people’s princess’, taking advantage of a mood of resentment against the monarchy. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3qinDH_3HE, accessed 24 January 2016.
- 10.
Strong, Coronation, pp446; 458; Wilentz, Rites of Power, pp222–3.
- 11.
‘King Edward’, The Times, 7 May 1910.
- 12.
Ibid.
- 13.
See Elizabeth Ezra (2000) George Méliès (Manchester: Manchester University Press), p66.
- 14.
Domestic, here, includes the imperial dimension—it was to appeal to Britain and the ‘Greater’ British family of the Empire.
- 15.
‘The Investiture of the Prince of Wales’, The Times, 12 June 1911.
- 16.
Ibid.
- 17.
‘A Coronation Exhibition’, The Times, 3 October 1910.
- 18.
‘Preparations are Now on Foot for the Great Coronation Exhibition’, Illustrated London News, 26 November 1910.
- 19.
‘The Coronation Exhibition’, The Times, 14 November 1910.
- 20.
‘The Coronation Exhibition at White City’, Letter to the Editor, Sunday Times, 19 March 1911. It was also mentioned, of course, that it was good business too, both within the Empire and as a way of promoting Empire goods to a wider world.
- 21.
‘Fete’, Grimsby Daily Telegraph, 23 June 1911; ‘Coronation Bonfires’, The Times, 23 June 1911. This was not confined to the UK, similar involvement in the arrangement of loyal events was a feature of Dominion coronation coverage.
- 22.
‘Personal’, Sunday Times, 12 February 1911.
- 23.
Michael Bloch (2012) The Reign and Abdication of Edward VIII (London: Hachette).
- 24.
This included shortening the ceremony, including cutting back on the musical interludes. See Matthias Range (2012) Music and Ceremonials at British Coronations: from James 1 to Elizabeth II (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p16.
- 25.
See, for instance, ‘Ceremonial Tree Planting’, The Times, 1 October 1936.
- 26.
‘Single Loyal Address’, The Times, 25 October 1936.
- 27.
‘Coronation Pottery’, The Times, 16 January 1937.
- 28.
See D. R. Thorpe (2011) Supermac: The Life of Harold Macmillan (London: Pimlico), p128.
- 29.
Bloch, Edward VIII.
- 30.
Anne Edwards (2014) Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor (Totawa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield), Ch. 29.
- 31.
This dimension also needs to be taken into account in the one area where George VI abandoned an element in the coronation plans made by his brother, Edward VIII. The latter had announced a re-run of his father’s Delhi Durbar, George VI did not carry through those plans, considering them untimely for a variety of reasons including the cost to India. See Hansard, Commons, 2 February 1937, cols. 8–9; 27 October 1937, col. 133.
- 32.
See, for instance, ‘The King’, The Times, 8 April 1937.
- 33.
See Thomas Hajkowski (2010) The BBC and National Identity in Britain 1922–1953 (Manchester: Manchester University Press). Churchmen had real concerns that the service would be listened to in ‘inappropriate places’ (like pubs). Many churches bought or borrowed wirelesses for the occasion, to ensure congregations listened in reverence in appropriate locations. See ‘Preparation in the Churches’, The Times, 10 May 1937. The coronation procession was also recorded by Pathé News and screened in cinemas.
- 34.
‘The King to His People’, The Times, 5 April 1937. Also see Jeffrey Richards (2001) Imperialism and Music: Britain 1876–1953 (Manchester: Manchester University Press), pp111–16.
- 35.
‘King George Crowned at Westminster’, The Times, 14 May 1937.
- 36.
‘Coronation Plans’, The Times, 16 January 1937.
- 37.
Kenneth O. Morgan (2001) Britain Since 1945: The People’s Peace (Oxford: Oxford University Press), p126.
- 38.
‘The New Reign’, The Times, 9 February 1952.
- 39.
See Richards, Imperialism and Music, pp117–21.
- 40.
‘Her Majesty’s Pleasure touching the Coronation’, The Times, 8 June 1952; ‘Queen’s Coronation’, Daily Mail, 8 June 1952.
- 41.
For more on this point, see David Cannadine (1979) ‘The Context, Performance and Meaning of Ritual: The British Monarchy and the Invention of Tradition, c.1820–1977’ in Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p146.
- 42.
Strong, Coronation, p. 434.
- 43.
‘Queen to Broadcast on Coronation Day’, The Times, 9 August 1952.
- 44.
Woolton Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford, Woolton Diary, 11 March 1953.
- 45.
Jennifer Clark (2015) ‘Queen for a Day: Gender, Representation, and Materiality in Elizabeth II’s Televised Coronation’, Journal of e-Media Studies, 4(1), p10, https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bec9/81af8dcb5d16dff2711cabd2529c1e78d1b0.pdf, accessed 30 March 2016.
- 46.
See TNA PRO/CAB129/50/C(52)99; D. R. Thorpe (1989) Selwyn Lloyd (London: Cape), pp116–137; Anthony Seldon (1981) Churchill’s Indian Summer: The Conservative Government, 1951–55 (London: Hodder and Stoughton), pp140–6; M. D. Kandiah (1995) ‘Television enters British politics: the Conservative Party’s Central Office and political broadcasting, 1945–55’, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 15(2), 265–84.
- 47.
James Chapman (2015) ‘Cinema, monarchy and the making of heritage’ in Claire Monk and Amy Sergeant, eds British Historical Cinema (London: Routledge), pp82–7.
- 48.
‘Royal Festival Year’, Sunday Times, 29 June 1952.
- 49.
See Hector Bolitho et al (1953) The Coronation Book of Queen Elizabeth II (London: Odhams Press); for details of other efforts to make the coronation memorable to the young see, for instance, Strong, Coronation, pxxxv.
- 50.
‘The Queen Crowned at Westminster’, The Times, 3 June 1953.
- 51.
‘The Firm’ is the informal name by which the royal family refers to itself.
- 52.
‘King Edward’, The Times, 7 May 1910.
- 53.
Handley Moule (1924) Letters and Poems of Bishop Moule: Selections from the Spiritual Letters and Poems of Handley Carr Glyn Moule, Bishop of Durham (1901–1920) (London: Marshall Brothers).
- 54.
‘Confidence and Hope’, The Times, 2 January 1937.
- 55.
The Times, 23 June 1911.
- 56.
In this, he was very different to his brother, Edward VIII. See Chapter 7.
- 57.
John Hall (2012) Elizabeth II and Her Church: Royal Services at Westminster Abbey (London: A and C Black), p2.
- 58.
The Servant Queen and the King She Serves (London: Bible Society, 2016).
- 59.
‘Prince William blasted for laziness’, Daily Express, 24 April 2015; ‘Revealed: Part-timer William’, Daily Mail, 22 February 2016.
- 60.
Up to the recent changes in the rules of succession in 2013, which would have permitted gender-neutral succession to the throne on an age hierarchy only, where a female was next in line she remained (as did the present Queen) heir presumptive rather than heir apparent, in that were a male heir to have been born, she would have been superseded.
- 61.
John S Ellis (2008) Investiture: Royal Ceremony and National Identity in Wales, 1911–1969 (Cardiff: University of Wales Press), p15.
- 62.
George V himself had been awarded the title ten months after his father’s accession, with minimum fuss and public ceremony, see ‘Court Circular. Prince of Wales: The Title Conferred’, The Times, 9 November 1901. The Welsh spelling, Caernarfon, has been preferred except in quotations and titles.
- 63.
‘Prince of Wales’, Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald, 16 November 1901.
- 64.
Ibid.
- 65.
‘Court Circular: The Prince’s Investiture’, The Times, 10 September 1910.
- 66.
‘The Investiture of the Prince of Wales’, The Times, 9 September 1910.
- 67.
Ibid.
- 68.
‘Personal Politics and National Sentiment’, Penny Illustrated Paper, 17 September 1910.
- 69.
See John S. Ellis (1998) ‘Reconciling the Celt: British National Identity, Empire, and the 1911 Investiture of the Prince of Wales’, Journal of British Studies, 37(4), 391–418, see especially p392; John S. Ellis (1996)‘The Prince and the Dragon’, Welsh History Review, 18(2), 272–94.
- 70.
‘Political Notes’, The Times, 29 July 1910.
- 71.
Roy Hattersley (2010) David Lloyd George: the Great Outsider (London: Hachette).
- 72.
Ellis, ‘Reconciling the Celt’, p4. See also Ellis, Investiture, p15.
- 73.
‘Court Circular: The Prince’s Investiture’, The Times, 10 September 1910.
- 74.
‘Personal Politics and National Sentiment’, Penny Illustrated Paper, 17 September 1910.
- 75.
‘The Prince’s Investiture’, The Times, 14 April 1911.
- 76.
Court Circular: The Prince’s Investiture’, The Times, 11 September 1910. After his abdication, the Duke of Windsor carried his insignia with him into exile. Only after his death did they return to the possession of the royal family.
- 77.
‘The Prince’s Investiture’, The Times, 8 April 1911.
- 78.
Ibid.
- 79.
As a further gesture, he would also be tutored (by Lloyd George) to give a speech in Welsh. ‘The Prince’s Investiture’, The Times, 3 April 1911; ‘Prince’s Investiture’, The Times, 6 April 1911.
- 80.
‘The Investiture of the Prince of Wales’, The Times, 14 July 1911. See also ‘Investiture of the Prince’, Daily Mail, 14 July 1911.
- 81.
‘Prince Charles Created Prince of Wales’; ‘Joy in Wales’, The Times, 28 July 1958.
- 82.
‘Investiture of Prince Fixed’, The Times, 14 November 1967.
- 83.
Susan Kennedy et al (2015) Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family (London: Penguin Random House), p171; see also Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin (2015) The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West (London: Penguin), p491.
- 84.
‘Prince’s £41,000 Investiture’, The Times, 28 March 1968, announcing the preliminary investment included in Government Estimates, which included £24,000 to the Welsh Tourist Board for its preparations, identified as an indication that ‘the Government hopes to make the ceremony a big tourist attraction’.
- 85.
Compare, for instance, ‘Royal Opportunity’, The Times, 1 March 1969; ‘Investiture a “farce”,’ The Times, 25 March 1969. For a detailed analysis on the politics of the investiture, see Ellis, ‘Reconciling the Celt’; Ellis, Investiture.
- 86.
See Howard Hodgson (2007) Charles—The Man Who Will Be King (London: John Blake), Ch. 2; Paul Ward (2002) ‘All that is solid melts into air? Britishness in the twentieth century’ in E. S. Smith ed Aspects of Culture, (Coruña: University of A Coruña), http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/7714/, accessed 30 March 2016.
- 87.
‘Formidable Pomp for the Prince’s Investiture’, The Times, 14 February 1969; see also, for the television coverage, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn7-MsaDq_s, accessed 2 January 2016.
- 88.
The very chairs designed by Snowdon on which the notables sat were sold off afterwards, to help recoup the cost to the taxpayer—but also to give people a ‘stake’ in the event. They still regularly turn up in auction sales and on eBay. For the return of one to Wales, see http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/prince-wales-historic-investiture-chair-7005124, accessed 30 March 2016. This was not an entire innovation. From Edward VII’s coronation in 1902, guests had been encouraged to purchase the chairs on which they sat as souvenirs, but this was more overtly to keep costs down. See http://www.lukehoney.co.uk/blogs/inspiration/79955524-game-of-thrones-british-coronation-furniture, accessed 20 August 2016.
- 89.
‘You’ve got to be with it to be a monarch today’, The Times, 6 June 1969.
- 90.
See Interview with Lord Snowdon, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn7-MsaDq_s, accessed 2 January 2016.
- 91.
‘A “sputnik” coronet for the Prince’, The Times, 25 June 1969. Also see Deborah Fisher (2010) Royal Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press), pp107–8.
- 92.
Lord Snowdon’s comments made to Robert Lacy. See Robert Lacey (2003) ‘Made for the Media: The Twentieth Century Investitures of the Princes of Wales’, The Court Historian, 8(3), p38.
- 93.
See ‘You’ve got to be with it to be a monarch today’, The Times, 6 June 1969; also Interview with the Prince of Wales, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn7-MsaDq_s, accessed 2 January 2016.
- 94.
‘Survival: the First Law of the Windsors’, The Times, 24 July 2000.
- 95.
Ellis, ‘Reconciling the Celt’, p392. See also Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds (1983) The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) especially Cannadine’s contribution; Colley, Britons; Matthew Glencross (2015) The State Visits of Edward VII: Reinventing Royal Diplomacy for the Twentieth Century (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).
- 96.
Possibly with one exception in the shape of Edward VIII, who abdicated prior to his coronation of course.
- 97.
See Philip Williamson (2007) ‘The Monarchy and Public Values, 1900–1953’, in Andrzej Olechnowicz ed The Monarchy and the British Nation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) 223–57, p235.
Select Bibliography
Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin (2015) The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West (London: Penguin).
Michael Bloch (2012) The Reign and Abdication of Edward VIII (London: Hachette).
Hector Bolitho et al (1953) The Coronation Book of Queen Elizabeth II (London: Odhams Press).
Joseph Canning (2005) A History of Medieval Political Thought, 300–1450 (Abingdon: Routledge).
James Chapman (2015) ‘Cinema, monarchy and the making of heritage’, in Claire Monk and Amy Sergeant, eds British Historical Cinema (Abingdon: Routledge).
Linda Colley (2006) Britons: Forging the Nation 1707–1837 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press).
Anne Edwards (2014) Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor (New York: Rowan and Littlefield).
Elizabeth Ezra (2000) George Méliès (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
Matthew Glencross (2015) The State Visits of Edward VII: Reinventing Royal Diplomacy for the Twentieth Century (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).
Thomas Hajkowski (2010) The BBC and National Identity in Britain 1922–1953 (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
John Hall (2012) Elizabeth II and Her Church: Royal Services at Westminster Abbey (London: A and C Black).
Frank Hardie (1963) The Political Influence of Queen Victoria, 1861–1901 (London: Routledge).
Roy Hattersley (2010) David Lloyd George: the Great Outsider (London: Hachette).
Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds (1983) The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Alice Hunt (2008) The Drama of Coronation: Medieval Ceremony in Early Modern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
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Handley Moule (1924) Letters and Poems of Bishop Moule: Selections from the Spiritual Letters and Poems of Handley Carr Glyn Moule, Bishop of Durham (1901–1920), (London: Marshall Brothers).
Andrzej Olechnowicz, ed (2007) The Monarchy and the British Nation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Anthony Seldon (1981) Churchill’s Indian Summer: The Conservative Government, 1951–55 (London: Hodder and Stoughton).
Roy Strong (2005) Coronation. A History of Kingship and the British Monarchy (London: Harper Press).
Joseph Strutt and J. R. Planché (1842) The Regal and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of England (London: Bohn).
B. Thompson and J. Watts, eds (2015) Political Society in Later Medieval England (Woodbridge: Boydell).
D.R. Thorpe (2011) Supermac: The Life of Harold Macmillan (London: Pimlico).
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Kandiah, M.D., Rowbotham, J., Staerck, G. (2016). The Ultimate Windsor Ceremonials: Coronations and Investitures. In: Glencross, M., Rowbotham, J., Kandiah, M. (eds) The Windsor Dynasty 1910 to the Present. Palgrave Studies in Modern Monarchy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56455-9_3
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