On the cover of its renowned October edition, British GQ asked ‘What’s so great about Britain?’. The query appeared against a tableau of celebrities assembled onto a set resembling a British street. Among them were Dame Emma Thompson, Andrew Garfield and fellow London-to-Hollywood commuters, whose own answers to the question — revealed inside the issue —unwittingly betrayed their rootlessness.
The Spectator declared the feature ‘a horror show’, lampooning what it claimed were saccharine clichés and naming tropes it thought more worthy of celebration: drunkenness, loutishness, bad teeth. Amid this culture war, true patriots have found themselves torn. Can one ever answer what’s great about Britain without resorting to platitudes?
Some argue this is a byproduct of the internet age, in which people are well versed in the visual language of Britishness, but lack the spiritual depth to elevate these reference points into something more profound. It’s not really about Yorkshire pudding, simmering alcoholism or poor dental hygiene: it’s about hospitality, the pursuit of joy and a sense of youthful abandon.
Capturing the soul of a nation without slipping into parody is admittedly difficult when the nation takes such pride in ritual and ceremony. Tom Holland, co-host of perennially popular podcast The Rest Is History, articulated the fine line between majesty and excess in a tweet about The King’s coronation in 2023: ‘The standout was, for me, Penny Mordaunt’s magnificently imposing performance as Athena.’
Dame Penny was, of course, then Lord President of the Council and spent most of that day carrying a giant sword in front of millions. Now, she and Chris Lewis have published a book celebrating these rituals, aptly named Pomp & Circumstance: Why Britain’s Traditions Matter (Biteback, £22). The tome seeks to champion our esoteric customs at a time when patriotic symbols are being appropriated by the far right. The authors say these symbols are ‘the antidote to nationalism’ and that we should reclaim them.
Fashion appears to agree, finding in Britishness a highly covetable asset: the latest campaigns from Burberry, starring Olivia Colman as a waitress in a fish-and-chip shop, or from Barbour, which cast Edie Campbell in an ode to British heritage, suggest an audience receptive to the romanticism of our cultural landscape. Yet patriotism requires more than sartorial imitations.
Amid these posturings, it’s high time we put substance over style.
-
Cocker spaniels: The indefatigable dog breed with medieval lineage that stole David Beckham’s heartOnce bred to flush out woodcock, now found in royal estates and Hollywood homes — the Cocker Spaniel’s charm knows no bounds.
-
20 breathtaking country homes for sale, as seen in Country LifeWe take a look at some of the finest houses to come to market via Country Life in the past week.
-
‘In my twenties I was asked by a newspaper to test out an orgasm machine. I said, "Absolutely"’: Elizabeth Day on her early career in journalism and consuming passionsThe author and journalist chats to Lotte Brundle.
-
David Beckham and Tom Parker Bowles whip up one of the guest editor's favourite childhood mealsFrom Sunday roasts to Spanish delicacies, good food is one of the pillars of Sir David Beckham’s life, as Tom Parker Bowles discovers when the pair cook up a comfort-food storm at Claridge’s.
-
'Sir David Beckham came to see our cattle a couple of years ago. He was fascinated': The stockman at the Glympton EstateTrevor Kirk, a Scottish stockman who now tends the Aberdeen Angus herd on the Glympton Estate in Oxfordshire, is one of Sir David Beckham's rural heroes in the special guest-edited issue of the magazine. He spoke to Julie Harding.
-
Stefan Pitman: Making great country houses cost less to heat than a suburban semiThe trailblazing architect Stefan Pitman — founder of SPASE — joins the Country Life Podcast.
-
What’s better than a date with Ali MacGraw? Tending to your waxed jacket, according to Steve McQueenThis is the story of the world’s most useful jacket — and a staple in Britain's countryside homes.
-
Our never-ending interest in magic and the occult, from Elizabethan England to Donald Trump's presidencyAs Haddon Hall’s rooms, complete with historic witches' marks, are transformed into exhibits that explore witchcraft and evil spirits, Lotte Brundle explores our continued fascination with the supernatural.
-
England and the 1966 World Cup — which was stolen and later recovered by a dog called PicklesIn celebration of the footballing talents of Country Life's guest editor Sir David Beckham, we look back at the summer of 1966, when the England national team was on top of the world.
-
Dire Straits' bassist John Illsley reveals why he swapped the recording studio for the art studio — and his consuming passionsJohn Illsley rose to fame as the bassist of the Dire Straits, but nowadays you're more likely to find him in an art studio.
