In 1947, the world listened; by 1981, the BBC and ITV were fighting over television coverage.
NZ LIstener, July 25 1981
1947, and “All the World Will Be Listening”, said our story about the royal wedding between Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten. On the cover, next to the ad for Q-Tol Four-oil Shampoo, Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Mountbatten are seen stepping out (see images below); inside, the airmail story “Special to “The Listener” by Ian Coster” describes postwar preparations for the day:
“Battle-scarred old London, shackled by austerity, will do its best to give a proper send-off to the heir-presumptive to the Commonwealth. The Guards will not be wearing their scarlet tunics and their bold, black bearskins, but their drill will be clockwork. The Household Cavalry, the Life Guards, and the Blues will not ride in shining breastplates and plumed helmets, but their horses will be polished ebony, and their swords of silver. No stands, gay with bunting, will line the Mall, but there will be flags on all the Government offices in Whitehall and cheering crowds all the way from the Palace to the Abbey.
“The King’s command has made it a plain wedding, in keeping with this winter of our deepest discontent. Battledress and medal ribbons is the order for the troops on parade. For the first time in history lounge suits may be worn by gentlemen attending a royal wedding. The Lord Chamberlain has laid it down: “Ladies, morning dress with hats; gentlemen, morning dress, lounge suits or service dress.” Well, the black-and-gold of the Navy – the most becoming uniform for a well-made man ever invented – will sit well on the bridegroom, sailor and grandson of sailor Prince Louis of Battenberg.
“Even the wedding breakfast at the Palace will be comparatively austere, a running buffet for about one hundred guests. King George insists on strict rationing for his family. When he was inspecting paratroops a few days before they flew to Arnhem, he was asked if he would like some refreshments which were laid on at 11.0 a.m. He said “Yes,” and then sent his chauffeur for a packet of tea, milk and sugar. “I’m not going to eat your rations,” he said, and didn’t. The breakfast will be no lavish meal, probably not nearly as rich as the spread of chicken-in-aspic and champagne put on the other night at a London hotel by a film company to celebrate a new moving picture.”
In keeping with tradition, Elizabeth’s wedding dress had been kept a secret, wrote Coster:
“The Princess has had fittings for her wedding dress made for her by Norman Hartnell, the Cambridge man who became a grand couturier. And what a fuss there has been about the secrecy of its design. Hartnell’s instructions were to stop publication of the design until the wedding day, and his effort to get reporters and photographers to obey this decree made on London evening paper so incensed that it had the temerity to call him a “dress-maker”.
“Fashion writers have made desperate efforts to get behind the veil of secrecy and they have made all sorts of guesses, the most absurd being the American report that the dress would use 120 yards of material. This would mean asking the Princess to carry a dress three times as heavy as a soldier’s kit.”
The event was broadcast around the world by the BBC, with commentators in seven languages and “representatives of the major American networks”. IN addition, “Cameras of the BBC’s Television Service will be transmitting the scene to the homes of English television viewers.”
In New Zealand, stations 1YA, 2YA, 3YA and 4YA “re-broadcast the actual ceremony from 11.0 p.m. to 1.0 a.m.” and the “ZB stations and Station 2ZA will stay on the air from 11.0 p.m. till 1.0 a.m. on Thursday, November 20, to broadcast the actual ceremony.”
1981, and the Listener again covers the broadcasting arrangements for a royal wedding, this time between Prince Charles, 32, and Diana Spencer, 20. Reporting from London, former Listener writer Ann Lloyd, relates that “Because of the competition between the BBC and ITV it has not been easy to find out exactly what viewers are likely to see – or even what time the transmissions will start.
NZ Listener, July 25 1981
“The BBC’s main commentator in St Paul’s Cathedral for the royal wedding will be Tom Fleming, successor to the late Richard Dimbleby. His is the voice that New Zealand viewers – as well as an estimated 750 million others around the world – will hear.
“Going by previous royal weddings, the broadcast – from news, views, horoscopes and the like, right through to the happily-marrieds waving from the palace balcony – is likely to last six hours. And even after that, in the late afternoon, there is some chance of witnessing the departure of Prince Charles and his princess for their honeymoon. Neither the BBC nor ITV knows where the couple intend to go, but at ITV there was a feeling that it might be Broadlands, the Mountbattens’ stately home in Hampshire – “in which case we could follow them right to the door”. ITV plans to use a hot-air balloon and, security permitting, a helicopter.”
On radio, the National Programme had a series of programmes in “Sharon Crosbie’s morning segment As It Happens. They include interviews with the Earl of Spencer, Lady Diana’s three flatmates, and workers on the royal estate. There will also be a “tour” of St Paul’s Cathedral, including an interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury and a history of the Spencer family.
“The National Programme will carry the BBC broadcast of the marriage at St Paul’s Cathedral at 10.00pm (NZT) on Wednesday.
“ONE will take BBC coverage from the beginning with the procession from Buckingham Palace at 8.45pm (NZT) through until about 12.15am.”
New Zealand Listener, November 14 1947
New Zealand Listener, November 14 1947