Royalty and monarchy have always been of interest to Mass Observation. Indeed, it was the public debate surrounding King Edward’s relationship with Wallis Simpson that saw the formation of Mass Observation ‘It was the ‘cross-cutting of feeling through age, class, occupation and the silence of the Press till the crisis came, that helped the founders of Mass-Observation decide that their first major study of the ‘anthropology of ourselves’ should deal with behaviour towards royalty’. (FR 3949 – Attitudes to Royalty, p.4). The very first 12th May diary day was chosen to coincide with the coronation of King George VI.
For those interested in the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, our Royalty Topic Collection comprises of hundreds of documents and spans over 11 boxes!
MO’s interest in royalty and monarchy continues to this day, with Observer’s for the Mass Observation Project asked about key events. This includes the wedding of Charles and Diana, responses to the death of Diana
For anyone interested in researching royalty we’d recommend starting with the following:
- Topic Collection 69 – ROYALTY 1942-64
- File Report 3949 – ATTITUDES TO ROYALTY (1960)
- Day Diaries May, 1937
- Coronation (Spring 2023)
- The Royal Family and update (death of Queen Elizabeth II) (Summer 2022)
- The Royal Wedding (Spring 2018)
The following articles and books have all used Mass Observation materials to look at attitudes towards monarchy:
- Thomas, J From people power to mass hysteria: Media and popular reactions to the death of Princess Diana https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1367877908092590
- Reflections on British Royalty: Mass-Observation and the Monarchy, 1937–2022 by Jennifer J. Purcell, Fiona Courage
- “I am not Interested in the Coronation”: Similarities and Dissimilarities in Mass Observation’s 12th May Diaries from 1937 and 2023 by Emily Calcraft
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