Royal Weddings by Emily Brand

Author:Emily Brand
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Royal Wedding
ISBN: 9780747811398
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Published: 2011-04-06T16:00:00+00:00

THE ‘DEMOCRATIC’ WEDDING

KING GEORGEV AND QUEEN MARY were crowned in the summer of 1911. The conflict and austerity that were to blight the early years of his reign were at least allayed by the mood of solidarity and national pride of the British war effort. As the prospect of peace peeped over the horizon, the image of the monarchy was irrevocably changed and the king was keen to dispense with the German roots and traditions of the British royal house. In 1917, the family name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was abandoned in favour of Windsor, German titles were abandoned, and the marriage customs by which the royal family had been restrained for so long were relaxed. Pivotally, the tendency to choose a German spouse would no longer be favoured over a match with an honest, loyal British subject. One contemporary newspaper bellowed, ‘throughout the Empire the decision to avoid the German taint has been received with approval’, and George noted in his diary, ‘it was an historic day.’ Seeming to throw off the shackles of matrimonial politics, the new generation of royal weddings became hopelessly veiled in the romance and optimism of a kingdom recovering from the horrors of war. On the announcement of the engagement of Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles, the Daily Mail gushed: ‘the charm of the match is it leaves no taste of scheming dynastic politics. It is just an English girl and an Englishman who have fallen in love.’ The fairytale wedding was coming into full bloom, and it became a distinctly more ‘democratic’ occasion with the rise of new modes of communication and international media.

The ceremonies held for the marriages of Princess Patricia of Connaught and Princess Mary, in 1919 and 1922 respectively, both took place in Westminster Abbey, allowing for a considerably larger guest list. While it had long been conventional for the groom to wear military uniform, the custom had acquired new connotations in recent years and wearing full armed services dress became a much more general practice for many male wedding guests. The ceremonies of this new era were met with pleasure because they seemed to evoke all of the values the nation now held closer to their hearts, and were made, as one American periodical observed, ‘in the best British tradition: calm, solemn and humble before God.’

The wedding of the king’s second son, Albert, to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, daughter of the Earl of Strathmore, illustrates that even those not intended for the throne could stir great excitement. Gratifying the public’s renewed taste for glamour and curiosity about radical new fashions, the press finally offered a glimpse of what went on behind the closed doors of the royal house. Gleefully scrutinising and applauding the wedding plans (most crucially, of course, the dress), illustrated magazines sold in droves. The Duke became the first royal groom to marry in the uniform of the newest branch of the armed forces, the Royal Air Force, following his training at Cranwell. The ivory chiffon and lace bridal gown, described by

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