Convocations of Empire: Public Spectacle and Ceremony in Britain, 1851-2012

Britain has long been associated with the staging of grand ceremonies, popular spectacles, massive exhibitions, state occasions, and Royal events which embody historically-informed conceptualizations of “Britishness.” To this end, significant public spectacles occurred periodically from the height of the British Empire until its decline—many of which spoke to the nature of British imperial ambition. This project traces the evolution of those key popular gatherings which relate to the shifting British imperial scene from 1851-2012, providing an in-depth accounting of the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Jubilees of Queen Victoria in 1887 and 1897, the postwar memorial movements after the First and Second World Wars, the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, and the contemporary, post-imperial events between 1997 and 2012