This Day In…Dame Emma Thompson’s Vegan Shoes

Our new ‘This Day In…’ column uses the date of publication to look back at music, artistic, and literary events that have shaped our history and culture. In the second instalment, Rosie Hough explores the significance of Emma Thompson receiving her MBE.

On 7th November 2018, Emma Thompson was made a Dame by Prince William. She did so wearing an “equal pay” badge and vegan white sneakers. Thompson has always been known for openness about her views on issues such as equality. The monarchy, whose existence and relevance today is now widely debated because of its roots in colonial discrimination, has been making huge efforts to move with the times. In typical Emma Thompson character, she broached this issue when she was made an MBE one year ago today.    

It would seem that by accepting the damehood, Thompson is pro-monarchy. However, in an interview with Seth Meyers, she relays her conundrum upon receiving the award: “They send you a letter saying, ‘Will you accept it?’ You can choose not to. You can choose to say, ‘Well, of course we don’t have an empire anymore, thank God, because it was ghastly, colonial, racist, dreadful undertaking on every level,’ and actually have some moral principle about it. Or you can be like me and think, ‘Hmm, it’s gonna be a really nice badge.’”

And a nice badge it is, especially to go alongside the equal pay badge she wore to the ceremony. Thompson receiving a damehood is an achievement in itself but her disregard for traditional and patriarchal dress codes - she wore a suit and trainers - is a plea for the monarchy to modernise and realise what influence they can have. 

She said: “I'm a card-carrying feminist, human rights advocate…because the establishment needs more people who can speak up for those things." Her main priority she mentioned at the ceremony was to draw attention to children who go hungry in the school holidays. Brandishing the Fawcett Society badge, Thompson’s campaign for equal pay is also a definite political statement. The monarchy itself must consider equality when awarding an OBE or MBE. On the same day, Sarah Gordy was made a Dame, becoming the first woman with Down syndrome to be made an MBE.  

Many argue that the monarchy has no place in British society. A multitude of reasons are used to support this, one coming from Thompson herself, quoted at the beginning of this piece. However, there are many who support the other side of the debate. They argue the monarchy do far more good than harm (including raising over £1.4bn for charity during Elizabeth’s reign). The fact that around six million people tune in every year to watch the Queen’s Speech on Christmas Day with cups of tea and boxes of Quality Streets says a lot about the general consensus of the nation. 

There are also those who don’t have a strong opinion - myself included. I believe there are more important things that are wrong with our society than a privileged family who are apparently “ordained by God”. Admittedly, the queen works pretty hard for a 93 year old woman, with almost 300 public appearances made last year alone. They don’t have political influence, they pay taxes, they don’t bother me a huge amount, and realistically the monarchy are going to be around for a long time. But seeing Emma Thompson, along with many others, being granted an MBE is an encouraging sign of the monarchy moving with the times.