The English social season was,
and still is nowadays, a social tradition for the upper class of the UK. It
began during the XVII century and it reached its peak in the XIX century. In
that era, the English upper class was ruled by the landed aristocracy who took
the opportunity of the social season to leave their country estates and move to
the city.
The season usually started in March and ended towards the end of June. The event that most characterized the social season of past centuries was the presentation of the debutantes to the royal court; The debutantes were young women close to marriage and daughters of members of the aristocracy and, later, also of wealthy bourgeoisie. The season was the perfect opportunity to arrange marriages between members of the social elite through sumptuous balls organized in the London nobles' mansions . The presentation of debutantes at court went into decline during the period of the First World War and was later abolished in 1958 by Queen Elizabeth II. However, the "last social season" is traditionally identified as that of 1939, on the eve of the Second World War. This event is remembered above all for the luxurious debut party of the seventeen-year-old Lady Sarah Consuelo Spencer-Churchill, granddaughter of the American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt. The party was held on 7th July 1939 at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire.
Nowadays, the social season is
characterized above all by the Royal Ascot and the Henley Royal Regatta. The
first event is a horse race held at the famous Ascot Racecourse, while the
second is a rowing competition. Both occasions demand strict dress codes. As
for debutantes, it is still possible to participate in celebrations in a more
limited form, without the presence of the monarch, such as, for example, the
“Queen Charlotte’s Birthday Cake”.
In recent years, the English
social season has become quite famous with the general public thanks to the Bridgerton saga, romance books written
by the American writer Julia Quinn, and the Netflix television series of the
same name. In fact, the series follows the events of the aristocratic
Bridgerton family, grappling with scandals and love stories during the London
seasons of the Regency period (1811-1820).
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