The Family Firm

The Family Firm presents the first major analysis of the public projectionand reception of the British monarchy's media image in the period 1932-1953.Beginning with King George V's first Christmas broadcast in 1932, the royalhousehold worked with the Church of England and the media to initiate a newphase in the House of Windsor's public relations strategy. Together theyelevated the royal family's domesticity as a focal point for popularidentification and this strengthened the emotional connections that members ofthe public forged with royalty. TheFamily Firm shows how the tightening of these bonds had a unifying effecton British national life in the unstable years during and either side of theSecond World War and helped to restore public confidence in a Crown that wasprofoundly shaken by the 1936 abdication crisis.