Written by Rhian Campbell, Broadcaster Co-ordinator at Globelynx
Throughout Queen Elizabeth’s reign many ground-breaking technological leaps have taken place: the first man on the moon, computers, the internet. The list could, and will, go on and on however one of the biggest and most important technological leaps was the evolution of broadcast media.
Picture by: PA Media
1947, peace was once again spread across Europe and a young princess was getting married, the future Queen of the United Kingdom. The Marriage was recorded and broadcast over BBC Radio to around 200 million people. Mere years later in 1953 when she was coronated this was widely televised to 20 million people. For the first time ever it was possible to convey the opulence and regal nature of the proceedings to millions.
From there, television offered a more in-depth look at the Royal Family. Released in 1969 Royal Family was aired, a documentary into the private life of the Royals after being filmed for a year. Eventually the BBC Documentary was restricted after being seen by more than 350 million people. The use of media started to humanise the Royal Family as people however this was not always a good thing and the Queen stated that she regretted giving access.
Royal Weddings have always been a key event for the media with the fairytale wedding of Charles and Diana attracting 2 billion viewers. The St Andrews Sweethearts, The Duke and Duchess’s wedding drew over 23 million viewers. It was reported that 23.7 million households watched the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018, amounting to a total of 29.19 million viewers. The ceremony is just one small part, the run up to the wedding is also heavily broadcast – from spotting the bride going to a wedding dress fitting, to guessing what flowers will be chosen, to scrupulously examining the guest list. The royal weddings have long been a welcome distraction to society from the humdrum problems of everyday life.
When Princess Diana’s life was dramatically and tragically ended in a car crash the whole world (it seemed like) was in mourning. People sobbed outside Buckingham palace and a record breaking 2.5 Billion people tuned in to the funeral. To grieve all together.
With Lord Dyson’s report published in May we can also examine the many ground-breaking interviews. From Emily Maitlis talking to the Duke of York about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, to Harry and Meghan talking to Oprah – millions of viewers tune in simply to try and understand this family. The happy times, the sad times, even the outrageous times. But do we, as a society truly understand them?
Although there is an argument about the importance of the Royal Family in our 21st Century society, for now they are a keystone of British culture and society. We closely watch the key members at every step of their life and feel we know them, or can identify with them. As they have become more and more humanised we believe we know them better however time and time again it suggests that in truth, we don’t.
The Royal family is a key focus in the UK’s society and therefore are a constant feature within the news cycle. Beyond the UK the Royal Family continues to command global attention and attracts interest from many different broadcaster outlets such as: Al Jazeera, Sky News Australia, TRT, Cheddar, Fox, ABC Australia, PA Media. Experts have been able to comment on large royal events such as Weddings, Births, Death and Interviews for some of the largest broadcasters around the world. Giving just one example here is Sarah Richardson from Warwick University commenting on Harry and Meghan’s Wedding on Sky News Australia.
If you know your Mountbattens from your Battenbergs, your Opera from your Oprah, and your Dianas from your Camillas, you could play a vital part in bringing everyone into the Royal world by becoming a Royal expert with Globelynx. Please contact us using the Contact Form, and we can get you started!