Downloaded from SAS Space http://www.sas-space.sas.ac.uk Open Access books made available by the School of Advanced Study, University of London Press ***** Publication details: he Family Firm: Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public, 1932–53 Edward Owens DOI: 10.14296/1019.9781909646957 ***** This edition published 2019 by UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, United Kingdom ISBN 978-1-909646-95-7 (PDF edition) This work is published under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. More information regarding CC licenses is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses The Family Firm Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public, 1932–53 EDWARD OWENS The Family Firm Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public, 1932–53 New Historical Perspectives is a book series for early career scholars within the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Books in the series are overseen by an expert editorial board to ensure the highest standards of peer-reviewed scholarship. Commissioning and editing is undertaken by the Royal Historical Society, and the series is published under the imprint of the Institute of Historical Research by the University of London Press. The series is supported by the Economic History Society and the Past and Present Society. Series co-editors: Heather Shore (Manchester Metropolitan University) and Jane Winters (School of Advanced Study, University of London) Founding co-editors: Simon Newman (University of Glasgow) and Penny Summerfield (University of Manchester) New Historical Perspectives Editorial Board Charlotte Alston, Northumbria University David Andress, University of Portsmouth Philip Carter, Institute of Historical Research, University of London Ian Forrest, University of Oxford Leigh Gardner, London School of Economics Tim Harper, University of Cambridge Guy Rowlands, University of St Andrews Alec Ryrie, Durham University Richard Toye, University of Exeter Natalie Zacek, University of Manchester The Family Firm Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public, 1932–53 Edward Owens LONDON ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS Published in 2019 by UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU © Edward Owens 2019 The author has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license. More information regarding CC licenses is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/. Copyright and permissions for the reuse of many of the images included in this publication differ from the above. Copyright and permissions information is provided alongside each image. Available to download free or to purchase the hard copy edition at https://www.sas.ac.uk/publications/. ISBNs 978-1-909646-94-0 (hardback edition) 978-1-909646-98-8 (paperback edition) 978-1-909646-95-7 (PDF edition) 978-1-909646-96-4 (ePub edition) 978-1-912702-13-8 (.mobi edition) DOI 10.14296/1019.9781909646957 Cover image: Print from a Vivex photograph of King George V (1865–1936) recording his Christmas radio broadcast at Sandringham. (RCIN 630629). Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019 Contents List of illustrations vii Acknowledgements xi List of abbreviations xv Introduction 1 1. ‘All the world loves a lover’: the 1934 royal wedding of Prince George and Princess Marina 45 2. ‘A man we understand’: King George V’s radio broadcasts 91 3. ‘This is the day of the people’: the 1937 coronation 133 4. ‘Now it’s up to us all – not kings and queens’: the royal family at war 199 5. ‘A happy queen is a good queen’: the 1947 royal love story 273 6. ‘This time I was THERE taking part’: the television broadcast of the 1953 coronation 331 Conclusion 373 Bibliography 389 Index 413 v List of illustrations 0.1 King George V, 1931. 3 0.2 King Edward VIII as prince of Wales, April 1935. 13 0.3 Sir Alan Lascelles, October 1943. 24 0.4 Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Lang. 26 0.5 Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher. 26 0.6 King George VI and his family at Windsor, April 1940. 31 0.7 Prince George and Princess Marina, duke and duchess of Kent, 1934. 40 0.8 Queen Mary, 1937. 41 0.9 Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant (Prince) Philip Mountbatten, July 1947. 43 0.10 Princess Elizabeth and Prince Charles, October 1949. 44 1.1 ‘Prince George engaged to Princess Marina’, Daily Mail, 29 August 1934, p. 9. 50 1.2 ‘Prince George and Princess Marina Send Greetings Through Movietone’, British Movietone News, 3 September 1934. 52 1.3 ‘Prince George’s Wedding Plans’, Daily Mirror, 30 August 1934, p. 1. 55 1.4 ‘London’s Warm-Hearted Welcome’, Daily Sketch, 17 September 1934, p. 1. 58 1.5 ‘Royal Lovers’ Greeting’, Daily Mirror, 22 November 1934, p. 1. 59 1.6 ‘To-day’s Great Abbey Wedding’, Daily Mirror, 26 April 1923, p. 1. 61 1.7 ‘Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd. announce Real Photo Postcards and Calendars of beautiful photographs by Dorothy Wilding of T.R.H. The Duke and Duchess of Kent’, Illustrated London News, 1 December 1934, p. 947. 63 1.8 ‘Princess Marina Joins in Family Joke at Balmoral’, Daily Express, 19 September 1934, p. 20. 67 vii The Family Firm: Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public, 1932–53 1.9 ‘“I Will” – Vow that Thrilled the World’, Daily Mirror, 30 November 1934, p. 1. 73 1.10 ‘Out-Of-Work Princess Signs on for Dole’, Daily Worker, 29 November 1934, p. 1. 80 1.11 ‘The Bride Waves, the Crowd Cheers’, Daily Sketch, 30 November 1934, p. 25. 82 2.1 George V at the microphone. Taken by a photographer from The Times in October 1934. 106 2.2 ‘My Very Dear People’, Daily Express, 7 May 1935, p. 1. 111 3.1 ‘One Matchless Blessing – a Happy Home with His Wife and Children’, Weldon’s Ladies’ Journal, dcxciv (1937), p. 1. 142 3.2 ‘We’re Happy at Last’, Daily Mirror, 8 May 1937, p. 1. 148 3.3 ‘This is the Answer to Dictators/“Very Happy Together”’, Daily Herald, 8 May 1937, p. 1. 149 3.4 ‘“Malicious Gossip” About the Health of the King’, Daily Mirror, 7 May 1937, p. 36. 155 3.5 King George’s Jubilee Trust: The Coronation of Their Majesties King George VI & Queen Elizabeth: Official Souvenir Programme (London, 1937). 184 3.6 A balcony photograph with Queen Mary encouraging her granddaughters to wave to the crowds gathered below. 194 4.1 ‘Stand Calm, Firm and United!’, Daily Sketch, 4 September 1939, p. 1. 211 4.2 ‘The King and I know what it means to be parted from our children’, 11 Nov. 1939. 222 4.3 ‘The Duke of Windsor – Home After Nearly Three Years’, Daily Express, 14 September 1939, p. 12. 227 4.4 Royal visit to a bomb-damaged area of the East End, 23 April 1941. 234 4.5 Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret at the microphone, by a photographer from The Times. 245 4.6 Marcus Adams, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, 9 April 1940. 246 4.7 ‘Princess Elizabeth: Fourteen Next Sunday’, Daily Express, 17 April 1940, p. 3, with photograph by Marcus Adams. 246 viii List of illustrations 4.8 ‘The Princesses Grow Up’, Daily Mirror, 24 April 1941, p. 5, with photograph by Marcus Adams. 246 4.9 ‘The Duke of Kent Killed’, Daily Sketch, 26 August 1942, p. 1. 252 4.10 ‘Nation’s VE Outburst of Joy’, Daily Telegraph, 9 May 1945, p. 1. 267 5.1 ‘Should Our Future Queen Wed Philip?’, Sunday Pictorial, 5 January 1947, p. 1. 278 5.2 ‘The Princess and the People’, Sunday Pictorial, 12 January 1947, p. 1. 281 5.3 ‘The King Has Gladly Given Consent’, Daily Express, 10 July 1947, p. 1. 294 5.4 ‘The Man She Will Marry’, Daily Express, 10 July 1947, p. 3. 296 5.5 ‘It is easy to see the radiant happiness of the princess’, 10 July 1947 303 6.1 A photograph of a television screen showing Queen Elizabeth II as the coronation service unfolded, taken by a man from Southend-on-Sea on 2 June 1953. 350 6.2 Marcus Adams, ‘Princess Elizabeth and Prince Charles’, 1948/49. 359 6.3 Marcus Adams, ‘Prince Charles and Princess Anne’, 24 October 1952. 359 6.4 ‘Let’s Play In-And-Out-The Window’, Daily Mirror, 1 May 1953, pp. 8–9. 361 6.5 A photograph of a television screen showing Prince Charles and the Queen Mother in the royal box, taken by a man from Southend-on-Sea on 2 June 1953. 363 6.6 ‘Mummy – Mummy!’, Daily Mirror, 4 June 1953, p. 9. 367 ix Acknowledgements It is with the greatest pleasure that I can finally thank all the individuals and organizations who have helped to make this book possible. To begin at the beginning: this project would never have got off the ground had it not been for the support and enthusiasm of Max Jones at the University of Manchester. Despite a difficult initial meeting in my first week as a student back in 2007, Max quickly became a trusted advisor in his role as my personal tutor and his level-three course on British heroes inspired me to think in new ways about the nature of fame and the role that public figures play in national life. Max oversaw my third-year dissertation on the aviatrix Amy Johnson and helped with the preparation of a Master’s AHRC funding proposal to explore the heroic image of T.