The new Queen arrives back in England
To celebrate our Queen’s Diamond Jubilee (and
as an unashamed royalist) I would like to look back 60 years ago, when she began her reign and her
war weary subjects were treated to some Disney magic at their local cinemas.
At her accession, Queen Elizabeth II was in
Kenya at the start of a five month tour of Africa, Ceylon, Australia and New
Zealand. Her father George VI had passed away on 6th February 1952
at Sandringham. She returned to London immediately and was met by members of
her privy council headed by Winston Churchill. A battery of cameras caught the
poignancy of this moment as the twenty-five year old sovereign climbed down the
aircraft steps to be received by a statesman who had entered parliament in the
reign of her great-great grandfather. Elizabeth was proclaimed queen on 8th
February after taking the royal oath. Her father was buried 7 days later. In
the following months the press and radio began to talk of the New Elizabethan
Age.
Meanwhile, on the 13th March of
that year, Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men had its world
premiere in London. The young queen had
visited the making of the film at Denham Studios in Buckinghamshire the year
before. Then as Princess Elizabeth, along with just her lady-in-waiting and
equerry, she had been shown around the outside sets and the costume department
by Walt Disney, himself.
At that time, Britain was licking its
wounds after a hard and bitter war; nearly every family had lost relatives and
friends. Towns and cities still had whole streets flattened by bombing and food
was still rationed. It is hardly surprising then, that under the dark cloud of
austerity, the population flocked to the cinemas; eager to be entertained. And
Disney’s Technicolor live-action version of the British medieval legend proved
to be the most popular. In fact it heralded the beginning of a new interest in
Robin Hood, not only on the silver screen and television, but also in the
corridors of universities and colleges up and down the country. Soon debates
would start in earnest about the historical existence of a ‘real’ Robin Hood.
Richard the Lionheart and the Houses of Parliament after a bombing raid
But what was life like for those New
Elizabethans, sitting in the picture palaces up and down Britain in 1952,
watching a film about their countries most popular folk-hero? Well, it was a
great deal different to today! For a start their life expectancy was 11 years
shorter. Food in those days was scarce; today we have such abundance that
obesity is a problem! In modern Britain we have far easier access to all-sorts
of pain killing drugs, medically and biologically.
Sixty years ago only one in five households
had a washing machine and one in ten a telephone. One in twenty owned a fridge
and one in five families owned a car. Back in 1952 there were only 2 million
private cars on the road and no motorways. Today the number is a staggering 27
million with 2,200 miles of motorway.
In the year that Disney’s Story of Robin
Hood first hit the silver screen only 11 percent of the British population had
access to the all-new new, flickering, black and white television. Today we
have access to the internet, smart phones and seemingly limitless TV channels. But
back in 1952, television had only just arrived in Scotland. The following year
the New Elizabethans would gather around their nearest neighbours television
set to see their young queen’s coronation at Westminster Abbey.
Queen Elizabeth II
Most of the cinema audience watching Disney's Story of Robin
Hood in that year would have rented their homes. Those old terraced houses that
are often looked back upon in a nostalgic way, were often very damp, had no
electricity, an outside toilet and dreadful sanitation. Today 66 per cent of
people own their own modern centrally heated house.
So we can see that Britain is a lot
different than it was 60 years ago. We have advanced incredibly fast, although
I personally feel that we have left many qualities and disciplines behind as we
have strived to embrace the modern age. But Queen Elizabeth has remained a
stoic figurehead to her nation and shown a remarkable stability in this ever-changing
world. She continues to represent our nations glorious past and give us hope
for the future, just as she did back in 1952.
Robin and his men kneel before Richard the Lionheart
Today we can watch Disney’s Story of Robin
Hood at any time, just by inserting a DVD in our laptop computer. It has been described
as the best example of a Technicolor film ever made in England. So next time
you watch it, imagine what it was like for the New Elizabethans as they sat in
those cinemas back in 1952. With that special Disney magic, they were
transported away from a bombed–out Britain, in the severe grip of austerity, to
a romantic Technicolor past where the monarch eventually returns to save the
nation.
“On your feet sir!” Thundered Robin
Hood.
Reluctantly De Lacy got to his feet.
“To Richard of England!” Cried Robin,
“God grant him health and long life.
Speak Up!”
