It is with the greatest pleasure that I can finally thank all the individuals and organizations who have helped to make this book possible. To begin at the beginning: this project would never have got off the ground had it not been for the support and enthusiasm of Max Jones at the University of Manchester. Despite a difficult initial meeting in my first week as a student back in 2007, Max quickly became a trusted advisor in his role as my personal tutor and his level-three course on British heroes inspired me to think in new ways about the nature of fame and the role that public figures play in national life. Max oversaw my third-year dissertation on the aviatrix Amy Johnson and helped with the preparation of a Master’s AHRC funding proposal to explore the heroic image of T. E. Lawrence. This was successful and we worked on this project together, the results of which finally made it into print in 2015. I gratefully acknowledge the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council for funding my MA studies as well as my doctoral research – again, Max played an integral part in helping me devise a proposal for a PhD project that would examine the transformation of the British monarchy’s media image in the mid twentieth century. In supervising the project, he was joined by Frank Mort, who also offered a great deal of advice at the early proposal stage. Frank is another historian whose personal kindness and patience seem to know no bounds. His insights on the monarchy’s evolution have helped to smooth the rough edges off many of the arguments contained in this book and our conversations together with Max were informative and great fun in equal measure. Our meetings were also enriched by the contributions of Julie-Marie Strange and Aaron Moore, both of whom brought a unique perspective to bear on the royal family in their role as advisors on the doctoral project.
At the end of what sometimes felt like an interminable three-and-a-half years, I was very fortunate to have Penny Summerfield and David Cannadine examine the PhD thesis at the viva voce, which was held at the Institute of Historical Research in London. Penny and David provided me with much good advice on how to turn my doctoral research into a book and encouraged me to write a new chapter on the Second World War, which is included in the present study. In her role as co-editor of the New Historical Perspectives series, Penny has continued to shape The Family Firm through to completion, not only looking over final drafts of the introduction and conclusion, but also offering valuable words of advice as my final deadline drew near. This publication has been made possible by a grant from the Scouloudi Foundation in association with the Institute of Historical Research. Royal Historical Society grants also funded two month-long research trips to London while I was a PhD student. For these grants and awards, and for various other funding and job applications, Penny, David, Frank and Max have written many references (often at quite short notice!); I am grateful for their unwavering support. Back in July 2018 I met the historians who had read the first draft of The Family Firm at the Royal Historical Society. Jo Fox, Adrian Bingham and Richard Toye provided me with much useful feedback that has strengthened the arguments presented here. Richard has also acted as a liaison between me, the readers and the other patient individuals at the IHR and RHS involved in the production of this book, including Jane Winters, Emily Morrell, Kerry Whitston and Philip Carter. My thanks go to them all for their time and help.
Other historians who have at some point in time made me rethink my approach to the monarchy include Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska, Sean Nixon, Matt Houlbrook, Martin Johnes, Eloise Moss, Toby Harper, Heather Jones, Christian Goeschel, Lucy Robinson, Jes Fabricius Møller and Emily Robinson – among many others. Since arriving at the University of Lincoln as a lecturer, I have further honed my ideas through in-class discussions on the royal family with the level-three students who have taken my monarchy course. My colleagues at Lincoln have also created a welcoming space where I have been able to discuss my interests. My thanks go to them all, but in particular to Chris O’Rourke, Sarah Longair, Adam Page, Helen Smith, Pietro Di Paola, Christine Grandy, Lacey Wallace, Jon Fitzgibbons, Duncan Wright, Jamie Wood, Michele Vescovi, Hope Williard, Graham Barrett, Rob Portass, Crystal Walker, Anna Marie Roos and Antonella Liuzzo Scorpo. Also with me at Lincoln, but among the friends I first made as a postgraduate at Manchester as well, are James Greenhalgh and Katherine Fennelly. They have made the transition to Lincoln a highly enjoyable one and I have learnt a great deal about history (and other things!) during our evenings spent together. Our PhD cohort at Manchester was full of ‘good eggs’ who not only helped me to improve as a historian but also provided much-needed fun and respite away from the grind of research. They include: Maarten Walraven-Freeling, James Corke-Webster, Gary Butler, Paula Smalley, Ben Knowles, Lee Dixon, Sarah Wood, Luke Heselwood, Stevie Spiegl, Kelly Spring, Ravi Hensman, Sean Irving, Luke Kelly, Alistair Kefford, Ben Wilcock and Jacob Bloomfield. Special thanks are also due to Ian Field – not only for sparking my interest in twentieth-century British history during my early undergraduate years, but also for providing excellent, gin-soaked company throughout my time at Manchester.
A few last thank-yous: first, to the many archivists who helped to make this project possible through their generosity of spirit, not only in replying to emails in advance of visits, but in aiding my discovery of exciting material and responding to questions on site. I am especially grateful to Katie Ankers at the BBC Written Archives Centre, Julie Crocker and her team at the Royal Archives, Fiona Courage at Mass Observation and staff at Lambeth Palace Library and the British Library’s Newsroom, where the majority of the research for this book, and the PhD on which it is based, was completed. Second, I gratefully acknowledge the permission of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to quote from material in the Royal Archives. Third, my thanks to all those friends outside the world of academia who have taken an interest in this project as it has developed over the course of almost eight years and particularly to those who have provided me with a bed to sleep in and a table to eat at while on my archival expeditions. I am also particularly grateful to Ben Garman and Harry Bolton for taking the time to proofread sections of this book. Fourth, my thanks to my family. My uncle, Andrew, has not only asked many important questions about this book that have shaped my thoughts as it has evolved, he has also provided a regular base in London where I have stayed during research trips to the capital. Without his hospitality, I would not have located half as much interesting material and the book would be much worse off. To my brother Andy and sister Kate, thank you for your good-natured joshing and love: you are both stars and I know you will continue to shine brightly. To my mum and dad, Debbie and Glyn – you built a home where history mattered and this fired my interest in the past. You always supported my education and encouraged me to strike my own path when I went to study and live in Manchester. You have stood by my every decision – whether or not these were right or wrong at the time! For all this I am eternally grateful. To my wife, Lisa: you have had to put up with this book (and my fraught relationship with it) since the moment we first met in 2012. Thank you for your love, patience and tireless positivity. You know better than anyone else how to put a smile on my face and this has kept me going through the bad and the good.
Finally, a special thank you to my grandmothers, Margaret (Meggie) Price and Mildred (Granny) Owens. They were the original inspiration behind the idea at the heart of The Family Firm and this book is therefore dedicated to them both. Meggie died twelve years ago in 2006; Granny will turn ninety-five in 2019. As women born in Britain between the wars, their early lives were influenced by some of the events discussed here. I remember Meggie talking with affection of the royal family and comparing my brother and me to Princes William and Harry when we were small children. Granny has many memories of the royal personalities discussed in this book and she remains a great admirer of the current monarch, Elizabeth II. I have always wondered how and why it was that my grandmothers, and other members of their generation, developed such strong emotional attachments to the House of Windsor. My hope is that The Family Firm will go some way to explaining this phenomenon.