Top: The Royal Procession at Ascot brings the Royal Family (above) to the races. Above right: A sea of hats at Royal Ascot. Right: Debutantes practise curtseying before being presented into society
presented at court to the King and Queen. Once this had happened they could look forward to a summer filled with a whirlwind of social engagements, all designed to display them to the families of eligible bachelors. The tradition lasted until 1958, when it was considered
archaic and the present Queen decided to dispense with it. The white gowns and dreams of many young girls were mothballed, along with Queen Charlotte’s Ball (today the ball is a private event held at an exclusive London hotel each year), but this didn’t signify an end to the traditional events of the summer. If anything, they have become more prominent because they are now more accessible. “The social structure that supported The Season really
doesn’t exist anymore, and nor is it a selection of exclusive events.” says Jo Bryant, etiquette adviser at high society publishing firm Debrett’s. “It’s now really more of a general social calendar.” Jo says that, in previous centuries, anyone lucky enough
to have been a member of the fashionable nobility would have attended events such as Royal Ascot by invitation. “You would very likely live as someone’s house guest, it
40 BRITAIN
was all very Jeeves and Wooster,” she laughs, “but now everyone can attend most of the events on offer.” Debrett’s publishes the foremost guide to The Season,
which is now a year-round affair and has expanded to include glittering parties and sports fixtures in all areas of the globe. Jo says change was inevitable but, when people think of The Season, it’s really the mainstays they are referring to, such as the Chelsea Flower Show, Cowes Week sailing regatta, Royal Ascot and the opera festival at Glyndebourne in East Sussex. “After the Second World War people really did think such events would die out but they didn’t and renewed
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