Britain had ‘never had it so good’ announced Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, and many British families, enjoying their brand new television sets and washing machines, agreed. The late 1950s was a period of enormous change in virtually every aspect of British life, as the economy boomed and a new affluence emerged. Immigration soared as people from former colonies arrived to claim their promised British citizenship and build a new life.
During this period of dramatic social change, new ideas about racial equality, nuclear power and the role of women in society were debated through the new mass media. These issues not only set the scene for the huge transformations that would take place during the Swinging Sixties.
By the late 1950s, more girls were being presented at court than ever before. Stories that some women would present a young girl for a fee caused some insiders to claim the ritual’s function as a marriage market had lost its point. Meanwhile, others felt the debutantes’ world was not democratic enough.
These opposing views caused mixed reactions when in 1957 the Lord Chamberlain’s Office announced the end of court presentations. Some people were outraged, while others readily accepted the end of an outdated tradition.
