The Queen on the big screen(s): outdoor screens and public congregations

Since the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, big screens in public places relaying live broadcasts to large crowds, often very near to the ‘real’ action, have become an increasingly important and visible element of royal celebrations. It might be expected that in our current era of media fidelity, diversity and ubiquity, these mass congregations would lose their appeal but the opposite would seem to be the case. An estimated 1 million people watched the Golden Jubilee ‘Party at the Palace’ concert on screens in the Mall, 90,000 watched the royal wedding in Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square in 2011 and