In this original volume, Jennifer J. Purcell and Fiona Courage curate and contextualize Mass-Observation’s rich archival materials on the British popular imagination of the monarchy and the royal family between 1937 and 2022. A 2016 telephone poll of British adults by Ipsos Mori conducted on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday declared that ‘the monarchy remains as popular as ever’. The survey also found that a substantial majority favored a monarchy over a republic. What lies behind the generalisations and statistical data generated by such opinion polls? How does the British public imagine the monarchy and its role in British society and governance? What is the relationship between the British people and the Crown? Using material from the social research organisation, Mass-Observation, which has been asking these questions for over 80 years, Reflections on British Royalty gets to the heart of these issues and more besides. From the coronation of George VI in 1937 to the wake of Elizabeth II's death– via war, weddings, a jubilee and a tragedy – this book incorporates everything from diaries and detailed responses to questionnaires, to children’s essays on royalty, internal organisational documents and published reports on popular attitudes to royalty in order to reveal the true nature of Britain’s relationship with its monarchy in the modern era.

In this original volume, Jennifer J. Purcell and Fiona Courage curate and contextualize Mass-Observation’s rich archival materials on the British popular imagination of the monarchy and the royal family between 1937 and 2022. A 2016 telephone poll of British adults by Ipsos Mori conducted on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday declared that ‘the monarchy remains as popular as ever’. The survey also found that a substantial majority favored a monarchy over a republic. What lies behind the generalisations and statistical data generated by such opinion polls? How does the British public imagine the monarchy and its role in British society and governance? What is the relationship between the British people and the Crown? Using material from the social research organisation, Mass-Observation, which has been asking these questions for over 80 years, Reflections on British Royalty gets to the heart of these issues and more besides. From the coronation of George VI in 1937 to the wake of Elizabeth II's death– via war, weddings, a jubilee and a tragedy – this book incorporates everything from diaries and detailed responses to questionnaires, to children’s essays on royalty, internal organisational documents and published reports on popular attitudes to royalty in order to reveal the true nature of Britain’s relationship with its monarchy in the modern era.