‘Were Our Ideas of Maintaining Control Mythical?’: Film Policy at Hampton Court Palace, 1911–1989

Abstract

From 1851, the British government became responsible for the management of Hampton Court Palace in an arrangement of the Crown Lands Act, leading to the government maintaining the site on behalf of the reigning monarch ‘in right of Crown’. From 1911, the government considered whether to allow filmmakers access to Hampton Court for their productions. This article will trace the history of the film policy relating to this site until 1989, when Historic Royal Palaces was formed as an Executive Agency of Government to maintain the site, later acquiring charitable status in its own right in 1998. It will draw upon material held in the National Archives, which demonstrates how the film policy relating to Hampton Court adapted and changed over time. This article will analyse key film projects, both realised and unrealised, including Royal England: The Story of the Empire’s Throne (1911), Hampton Court Palace (1926) and The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) to explore how the government approached allowing filmmakers access to the site, and the reasons behind their rigid stance toward film production on location within the broader context of the government’s support toward the British film industry more generally.