Rollins College Rollins Scholarship Online Master of Liberal Studies Theses Fall 2014 Convocations of Empire: Public Spectacle and Ceremony in Britain, 1851-2012 Ryan G. Hudnall Rollins College - Master of Liberal Studies Program, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls Part of the European History Commons Recommended Citation Hudnall, Ryan G., "Convocations of Empire: Public Spectacle and Ceremony in Britain, 1851-2012" (2014). Master of Liberal Studies Theses. 68. http://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls/68 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Rollins Scholarship Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Liberal Studies Theses by an authorized administrator of Rollins Scholarship Online. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Rollins College Rollins Scholarship Online Masters of Liberal Studies Theses Fall 2014 Convocations of Empire: Public Spectacle and Ceremony in Britain, 1851-2012 Ryan G. Hudnall Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Rollins Scholarship Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters of Liberal Studies Theses by an authorized administrator of Rollins Scholarship Online. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Convocations of Empire: Public Spectacle and Ceremony in Britain, 1851-2012 A Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Liberal Studies by Ryan G. Hudnall December, 2014 Mentor: Dr. R. Barry Levis Reader: Dr. Susan Libby Rollins College Hamilton Holt School Master of Liberal Studies Program Winter Park, Florida Convocations of Empire: Public Spectacle and Ceremony in Britain, 1851-2012 By Ryan G. Hudnall December, 2014 Project Approved: _____________________________________ Mentor _____________________________________ Reader ______________________________________ Director, Master of Liberal Studies Program ______________________________________ Dean, Hamilton Holt School Rollins College Dedication While I was working on my thesis, I lost both my grandmother to a long and difficult illness and my great aunt to a sudden and unexpected health issue. I was supported by both throughout my years in school and I cared for both immensely. I was fortunate to be able to spend a good deal of time with my grandmother before she passed, and every time I saw her she told me how proud she was of the work I was doing in school. So now that my work is finished, I want to dedicate this project to both my Grandma Bernard and my Big Aunt Sara in their loving memory and in honor of their unwavering support for my academic endeavors. I miss them both and I dearly wish that they were here to see the work finally done. iii Table of Contents List of Illustrations………………………………………………………………………………...v Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………………….vii Preface…………………………………………………………………………………………. …x Chapter One Introduction: Finding Modern British Ceremonial History……………………………………….1 Chapter Two “The Compass of the World”: The Great Exhibition of 1851 ………………………………………………………………. .....12 Chapter Three “Lo, All Our Pomp of Yesterday”: The Jubilees of Queen Victoria and the Two Families of the World …………………………. .36 Chapter Four After the Flood: Public War Memorials and Postwar Memory in Modern Britain ……………………...……......63 Chapter Five A Queen Is Crowned: The Fairytale Coronation of Elizabeth II and the False Promise of Conservative Redemption ……………………………………………92 Chapter Six From An Empty Tent to a “Five-Ring Opening Circus”: A Survey of Post-Imperial British Convocations in Contemporary British History ………... ..121 Chapter Seven Conclusion: The Future of British Public Ceremony ……………………………………….....158 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………...169 iv List of Illustrations 1.1 J.M.W. Turner, The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834 , 1835 (Philadelphia Museum of Art) ……………………………. ….. 2 1.2 J.M.W. Turner, The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834 , 1835 (Cleveland Museum of Art) …………………………………… 2 2.1 The Crystal Palace, Dickensons’ comprehensive pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851 , 1852 …………………………………………………………………………... 16 2.2 Eugène Louis Lami, The Opening of the Great Exhibition, 1851 , The Royal Collection, Watercolor, 1851 ………………………………………………. 19 3.1 Plan Showing the Berths of the Men-of-War and the Track for Yachts at the Jubilee Naval Review on June 26 , June 28, 1897 (The Times )………. 57 3.2 J.C.R. Colomb, Imperial Federation Map of the World Showing the Extent of the British Empire in 1886 , 1886 (The Boston Public Library) …………………….. 59 3.3 Warship Tonnage of the Great Powers, 1880-1914 …………………………………… 60 4.1 The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London , 1920 (The Imperial War Museum) ..……....……. 75 4.2 The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior , Westminster Abbey, London, U.K. ………………80 5.1 The BBC’s Filming of the Coronation Procession , June 2, 1953………………………104 5.2 Official Souvenir Program for the Coronation of Elizabeth II, June 2, 1953 ………….112 6.1 Tabloid Headlines from September 4, 1997 …………………………………………....130 6.2 The Millennium Dome …………………………………………………………………134 6.3 Interior “Zones” of the Millennium Dome: “The Millennium Experience” ………….. 136 6.4 Prince Philip, the Queen and the Blairs singing Auld Lang Syne at the [Dome’s] opening ………………………………...…………………………………… 138 6.5 Crowds in front of Buckingham Palace for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations , June 4, 2012…………………………………………………………………………….144 6.6 Olympic Rings, 2012 London Olympic Opening Ceremony , July 27, 2012……...…….151 v 6.7 Film of The Queen, James Bond (Daniel Craig), and the Royal corgis for the Olympic Opening Ceremony , July 27, 2012……………………………….……152 7.1 Clarence House, Twitter Post, July 22, 2013, 12:35 p.m., http://twitter.com/ClarenceHouse ...................................................................................159 7.2 The Official Announcement of Prince George’s Birth , July 22, 2013………………….159 vi Acknowledgements I would like to thank a number of people for their unwavering support throughout my time as a candidate for the Master of Liberal Studies degree. Without the assistance of my loved ones, my friends, my fellow students, my professors, and a few great authors, musicians and filmmakers, I would have fallen flat on my face countless times by now. I am in your debt. First, I must thank my fellow graduate students for challenging, exasperating, and encouraging me throughout my time at Rollins. In particular, however, I would like to thank my dear friends in the MLS “House of Satyricon”: Mandy Turnbull, Mary Robinson, Matthew Williamson, Carolina Castaneda, and Chip Smith. I would not have lasted in the MLS program without each of you. Additionally, I want to thank Gerry Wolfson-Grande for her endless encouragement and many hours spent discussing writing, great books, and the like. You have all been wonderful companions on this academic journey, and I will look forward to remaining friends with each of you for many years to come. I must also thank my closest non-Rollins friends for their steady companionship and fraternity for all these years. In particular, I want to thank my oldest friend, Chandra “Spookychan” Free, my dearest friend, Will “The Thrill” Lloyd, and my best friend, Jeff “Illyich” Hinzmann. Jeff merits particular acknowledgement as a brilliant academic interlocutor and as an unwavering supporter whenever I have been troubled or have simply had random thoughts I wish to discuss. You are all wonderful. I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge many of my other friends and acquaintances. There are too many of you to name, but I trust you know who you are. I do, however, want to give special acknowledgement to my friend Aaron “Air Bear” Volk in Chicago. As a fellow insomniac, he’s been up late with me as I’ve pulled countless all-nighters—usually because he’s vii pulling them, too! Our text conversations have been sustaining and always interesting. I’m looking forward to continuing them for many years to come. Perhaps unusually, I would also like to thank Sir Edward Elgar for giving me a very British soundtrack as I wrote about the Britain of days past. Along those lines, I’d also like to thank the Pink Floyd for reminding me that “hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way” whenever I had my own moments of desperation as a writer. Shine on, you crazy diamonds. More importantly, however, I have several professors to thank who have taught me more than they’ll ever know. Drs. Rubarth, Dennis, Chambliss, and Sinclair all overwhelmed me with their intelligence, scholarship, and teaching. From this student’s perspective, each of you demonstrate what it means to be a fantastic professor. I would also like to thank Dr. Tom Cook, “Brother Cook,” for getting me to think about new ideas, for engaging me in countless hours of genuinely kind and thoughtful conversation, and for taking me to Turkey to see an amazing cultural and historical crossroads state in action. Above all, I want to thank Brother Cook for being one of the very finest professors I will ever have the pleasure of knowing. You, Sir, are someone that I will never stop looking up to. Of course, there are two professors that I must thank above all others: my thesis reader and longtime mentor, Dr. Susan Libby, and the great Dr. Barry Levis. Susan is one of the kindest and wisest people you could ever hope to meet. She’s also a damn fine art historian and someone who has impeccable taste in art, music, film, fashion, and husbands. As a teacher, she’s taught me far more than I think she realizes, both about art history and life. I’ve literally learned to look at the world differently thanks to her influence, and I could not be happier to have had my eyes opened. I can’t say thank you enough for everything. viii And then there is Barry Levis. His Lordship. I could write pages about what Dr. Levis has meant to me as a professor, confidant, mentor, and friend.