Open Space Media Representations of the British Royal Family as National Family

Formal royal occasions such as royal weddings are used to promote the relationship between the nation and the throne. The media invoke ties of affection and history, with the former generally predominating. Princes and princesses are nowadays less symbols embodying the political cement that binds a nation and more representative of ’elevated normality ’ (The Times, Editorial on the 1986 Royal Wedding, 23 July 1986) and, while emphasis is placed partly on their service to the nation, the family is stressed more. That twentieth-century ideology, the love-match- as opposed to the arranged marriage- has resulted in the wedding being dressed up to create a fantasy for the masses. The royal marriage partner is seen as bound to every family in the land- families who have seen that prince/ss grow up. A royal wedding provides an ideal occasion for placing the Royal Family at the centre of national life, linking the happiness and hopes of the individual and family with that of the nation. As a wedding is often seen as a day of pride for the bride’s mother, so a royal wedding may be seen as a day of pride for the nation. The Archbishop of Canterbury’s preface to the official programme of the 1981 Royal Wedding laid stress on the presence of a family at the centre of the nation’s life, illustrating The Times Editorial’s ’elevated normality ’ with the Royals being portrayed as representatives of both human and national emotions. Elevation of a family is also employed, as Rosalind Coward (1984