Was Elizabeth II's reign a golden age?

When Elizabeth II came to the throne in 1952, Britain, though left bankrupt and reeling from the Second World War, was still a major global power. By the end of her reign in 2022, the longest in Britain's history, the nation and its place in the world was in a markedly different place. In this episode of the History Extra podcast, Sir David Canadine speaks to Danny Byrd about the dizzying changes of the Second Elizabethan age, from de-victorianisation to de-industrialisation, how did the UK change around the monarchy? And how did the monarchy respond? David, when Elizabeth II became Queen in 1952, there was real talk of a new Elizabethan age.

Looking back, was that ever a meaningful comparison, or was that more a reflection of post-war optimism than reality? I think the notion of a new Elizabethan age, which didn't of course last all that long, was an attempt to believe that the advent of a young, glamorous queen, whose coronation, of course, coincided with the British conquering Mount Everest, did portend a new Elizabethan age of adventure of daring do. James Bond made his first appearance at the same time as the coronation. And British railways, as they then were, put on a train called the Elizabethan, which ran non-stop from London to Edinburgh.

And so there was a sense of excitement about the second Elizabeth, but it didn't last because, of course, not many years after the coronation there came the Suez de Barcla. which made it pretty plain that Britain could no longer act as an independent force in the world in the way that it had done earlier. Anthony Eden, the Prime Minister, had to resign in humiliation. And of course shortly afterwards John Grieg, Lord Alchingham, wrote a very critical piece of the monarchy in general and of the Queen in particular. So the new Elizabethan era lasted about three years, and really we didn't hear much of it thereafter.

We already have this episode, so unlocking it is cheap and permanent: the full transcript (34 minutes, 5,821 words), segment and word-level timestamps, and .txt, .srt, .vtt and word-level JSON downloads, as many times as you like, forever.

No account needed, we create one from your checkout email. With credits it is 1 credit; packs start at 5 episodes for $3.49, and monthly plans are cheaper still.