Glimpses of Britain. Reader - стр. 3
Illustrated newspapers also created an emotional interaction with the royal family by showing intimate details of palace life. Its artists adopted the position of confidential onlookers. In an engraving produced by The Illustrated London News of the visit of the French king, Louis-Philippe, a state visit was turned into a domestic occasion. Press coverage provided an intimate experience of the public and domestic activities of the royal family. The creation of Victoria as a popular monarch was inseparable from the way her life was presented as royal news. In 1868, extracts from her journal of her journeys in the Scottish Highlands sold over 100,000 copies.
Despite the political benefits that Victoria and Albert received from their fulsome coverage, reporters were kept at arm’s length by the court. Newspapers were only allowed limited access to royal events. Journalists had a low social status and were far from being regarded as “Gentlemen of the Press”. Courtiers were unwilling to acknowledge their role in creating an intimate bond between monarchy and subject. At the wedding of the Princess Royal in January 1857, only ten journalists were granted official access to St James’s Palace. Reporters were seated high up in the Chapel Royal. Spencer Ponsonby, the Lord Chamberlain’s assistant, chose this position because “it would be more out of the way than any other place in the Chapel, for I suppose we could not call upon the reporters to wear full [Court] dress”. Reporters could not be excluded; nevertheless they were placed at the edge of proceedings. Ponsonby compensated for the reporters’ lack of court dress by having a red silk curtain screen off the members of the press.
The wedding established an etiquette of journalistic invisibility. This semiofficial understanding between reporters and courtiers did not, however, prevent fractious encounters. At Balmoral in the early 1870s, there was often a carriage of journalists ever eager to follow Victoria. Protocol meant that they were nevertheless expected to stay out of sight. On one occasion, a carriage of reporters was following Victoria on a drive, only to be caught unawares when her carriage suddenly turned around. The reporters’ carriage was forced into a ditch in order to let her pass. She reportedly had a hearty laugh at their expense.
The wariness of the royal household towards the media was far from unwarranted. Royal reportage was attacked for its intrusive practices and purple prose. Journalists veered between intrusion and idolatry. Satirical journals such as