The presentation of debutantes at court began in an effort to familiarize the monarch with his various courtiers. It also served as a marriage market and an introduction to high society. The process was highly regimented.

At the beginning of the London social season, the parents of young women applied to present their daughters to the monarch by requesting an invitation from the Lord Chamberlain of the Household. The Lord Chamberlain would then send a royal command to the applicant based on a subjective judgment of her parents. While most applicants were mothers who had themselves been presented at court, any woman who had previously been presented to the Sovereign could in theory nominate a debutante of her choice. This system effectively limited the number of suitable women in order to avoid overwhelming the Lord Chamberlain. However, with the democratization and increasing wealth redistribution of Britain in the era following the Second World War, the notion of such a ceremony began to be questioned by the press. The quality of debutantes was also perceived to have fallen, with Princess Margaret famously proclaiming: "We had to put a stop to it. Every tart in London was getting in."

Despite such haughty notions, the reality is that many upper class families had been gutted by the First and Second World Wars. Death duties in Britain were notoriously high until the 1980s and there was no provision for death in combat; several otherwise fiscally sound families found themselves completely penniless after three or four males passed in a span of 20 years. Many gentlemen could not afford to pay for the upkeep expected of their daughters in the events that followed the presentation, leading to serious resentment amongst the landed gentry. The death knell for presentations ultimately came, however, from the advent of feminism. Presentations were ultimately designed to ensure the marriage of one's daughter within 12 months of Queen Charlotte's Ball -- the main event -- and most girls were 17 years old. While the sense that a 17 year old should be married by the end of the season was considered somewhat asinine even then, the contemporary purpose of presentations was besieged by an existential quandary by many parties in royal circles.

Queen Elizabeth first attempted to hold fast to the tradition out of a sense of duty, but was ultimately informed by the government of the day that presentations would have to end in an effort to modernize the court. Prince Philip was more forthcoming, decrying the tradition in what can only be described as a bizarrely proto-feminist rant in support of the government. At his advice, she ended them.