Court and anti-court. London and the British monarchy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

Pénélope J. Corfield, Court and anti-court. London and the British monarchy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, p. 381-394. The essay argues that London needed the court to consolidate its commanding position as capital city - but that simultaneously the British monarchy needed to be in London. That created a complex and sometimes tense relationship. There was an anti-court tradition of hostility to the trappings of monarchy as well as a pro-court tradition of reverence for kingship. Many British monarchs built their own private palaces outside the metropolis but they could never move away entirely. Policentric and pluralist London, as the political, business, social and cultural capital of Britain, was also the inevitable home for the monarchy : kingship amidst the city crowds, courtiers among the citizens.Corfield Penelope. Court and anti-court. London and the British monarchy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In: Mélanges de l'École française de Rome. Italie et Méditerranée, tome 111, n°1. 1999. pp. 381-394