Palace Pandemonium

The campaign for women's suffrage steps up as Emmeline Pankhurst is arrested at the gates of Buckingham Palace.

The newsreel cameras were in place to catch suffragette pioneer Emmeline Pankhurst's arrest at Buckingham Palace - the latest episode in her ongoing public campaign for women's votes. Intent on personally petitioning the King, Emmeline got as far as the gates before the police stepped in. Yet the film privileges the police presence, showing Emmeline being frogmarched away from the scene.

"Arrested at the gates of the Palace. Tell the King!", Pankhurst reportedly shouted as the police dragged her away. The suffragettes were shrewdly aware of the power of the press; this incident was one of several headline-grabbing stunts lapped up by the newsreels.