Submitted by Ella Vanderzyl on the 2017 winter session program in London, England sponsored by the Department of History…
This week we toured the Palace of Westminster, which is home to the UK’s Parliament. The interior of the palace was extremely ornate. Many of the walls were covered in murals, a surprising number of surfaces covered in gold, the halls were lined with statues of past leaders and crystal chandeliers hung from almost every ceiling. All of this was certainly dandy to see, but I was most surprised to hear about the enormous role tradition plays in the United Kingdom’s politics. Our tour guide went over certain practices in Parliament that serve no purpose aside from carrying on a symbolic ritual (such as slamming the door to the commons chamber in the Black Rod’s face during the State Opening of Parliament). So many elements of the UK’s government are symbolic which initially seemed odd to me, but a mural of William the Conqueror reminded me that there is an enormous span of history behind the country. It makes sense that tradition is so deeply rooted within the system.