TheLord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the BritishRoyal Household. It is concerned with matters such asprotocol,state visits,investitures,garden parties, royal weddings and funerals. For example, in April 2005 it organised thewedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles. It is also responsible for authorising use of theRoyal Arms and other royal symbols.[1]
As theLord Chamberlain is a part-time position, the day-to-day work of the Office is conducted by theComptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office.
TheLord Chamberlain's Office had a more significant role (under theTheatres Act 1843) in British society prior to 1968, as it was the officialcensor for virtually all theatre performed in Britain. Commercial theatre owners were generally satisfied by the safety this arrangement gave them; so long as they presented only licensed plays they were effectively immune from prosecution for any offence a play might cause. There were campaigns by playwrights, however, in opposition to the Lord Chamberlain's censorship, such as those involvingJ. M. Barrie in 1909 and 1911. Some plays were not licensed in the 1930s, during the period ofappeasement, because they were critical of the regime inNazi Germany and it was feared that allowing certain plays to be performed might alienate what was still thought of as a friendly government.[4] This includedTerence Rattigan'sFollow My Leader, which was submitted to the Lord Chamberlain's office in 1938 but was not granted a license due to itsfarcical depiction of the German government "not being in the best interests of the country".[5] It was not granted a license until 1940 following the end of appeasement.Rowland Baring, 2nd Earl of Cromer, then Lord Chamberlain, consulted theForeign Office regularly and sometimes the German Embassy. In the latter case, the submissions were intended to be read by a "friendly German".[4]
By the 1960s, there were many playwrights andproducers who wished to produce controversial works such asLady Chatterley's Lover. Theatre companies such as theRoyal Court Theatre came into open conflict with the Lord Chamberlain's Office. Sometimes they would resort to such measures as declaring themselves private clubs for the performance of certain plays.Edward Bond'sSaved andJohn Osborne'sA Patriot for Me played a large role in the build up to theTheatres Act 1968. The Lord Chamberlain's Office technically had jurisdiction over private performances, but had generally avoided getting involved with bona-fide private clubs untilSaved. While they had cause for prosecution, there was a fear that this would call into question theatre censorship as a whole.[6] This is precisely what happened after the Royal Court Theatre was prosecuted. DirectorWilliam Gaskill was discharged and the company were fined but the publicity surrounding the case called into question the necessity of the Lord Chamberlain's role in theatre.[7] The 1966 Joint Select Committee was set up to discuss possible changes to the Theatres Act following the dissatisfaction with how theatre censorship was being handled. It included eight representatives of theHouse of Lords, eightMP's, and witnesses of varying theatrical backgrounds, includingPeter Hall. The committee met between 1966 and 1967 over the course of sixteen meetings and it eventually resulted in the abolition of the role of official censor in the Theatres Act 1968.