HIS MAJESTY

The King is Dead, Long Live the King!: Majesty, Mourning and Modernity in Edwardian Britain may be the first literary publication by London- based Martin Williams, but his imprint on social media has reached fans far and wide who enjoy his posts of sophisticated images and information on cultural discourse. Williams’ inaugural title, available in the United States this fall, was highly anticipated by his more than 20,000 Instagram followers, where he is known as @disraeli81, a handle derived from the combination of a local neighborhood street and the year of his birth.

Williams describes his book as a “conversation piece” about Britain circa 1910. “I’ve used King Edward VII and the event of his passing as a prism through which to examine the broader trends that defined the Edwardian era, and which, I maintain, created the conditions for the seismic changes of the twentieth century as a whole,” he explains. While Edward’s reign was just shy of a decade, he had traveled widely across the globe, including Chicago—the first member of the British Royal Family to do so. Perhaps that international exposure focused the world’s attention on the so-called “Black Ascot” of June 1910, which took place only a month after the King’s death. Partly a tribute to the King’s passion for horse racing, the event was a moment of mourning and high glamour that captured the public’s imagination for decades. Over half a century later, photographer and Oscar-winning designer Cecil Beaton used it as the basis for his black and white costumes in the Hollywood adaptation of My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn. What became apparent during his research, Williams points out, is that “although the world of 1910 seems remote in many ways, it’s also strangely relatable in others.”

When Edward VII lay in state in Westminster Hall in May 1910, it provided an unprecedented opportunity for his subjects to pay their last respects to the popular monarch. In 2022, his great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II received the same treatment as she was similarly revered. Both monarchs harnessed advances in technology and transportation to foster close relationships with people and places.

Williams’ career began long before the scrolling of iPhones. It was page-turning tales that initially sparked his interest. “I was certainly the only 10-year-old at my school reading about English 18th-century furniture and Victorian fashion,” he laughs. He was fortunate to have parents who obliged their son’s requests for visits to stately homes and museums. Not surprisingly, his favorite television shows ranged from Pride and Prejudice to Brideshead Revisited. In them, “I could see recreated not only the masterpieces of English literature, but also the clothes, interiors, architecture, and manners of the last three centuries.”

After taking Joint Honors in English and History of Art at university, Williams entered the auction house arena. Following positions at Christie’s and Bonhams, he was hired by Sotheby’s Institute of Art to assist with Public Programs. In this role, he accessed a whole new sector of the art market and, in turn, the art of marketing.

“I was encouraged to spread my wings, delivering a diverse array of lectures and tours for private clients and groups in cities from Los Angles to Abu Dhabi.” The encouragement of the Institute’s marketing director to embrace social media planted the seeds for William’s own highly successful internet persona. And in his current debut as an author, Williams, much like his main subject, seeks progress by paying homage to the past through the means of the present.

Find Martin Williams on Instagram @disraeli81. The King is Dead, Long Live the King!: Majesty, Mourning and Modernity in Edwardian Britain is published by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.