The Court Circular is the official record of all the engagements carried out by the British Royal Family, as well as appointments to their staff and to the court. It is printed daily in The Times, The Scotsman and Daily Telegraph newspapers. The circular is written in very formal language, and describes persons with their official styles and titles at all times (Michael Ancram, for instance, is referred to as "the Marquess of Lothian MP").

History

The Court Circular was first established by King George III. The King had become irritated by the press at that time, who frequently reported false movements of the Royal Family. Therefore the King created an official circular to all the press that listed the engagements carried out by his family.

Structure

The Court Circular follows royal protocols very strictly. Announcements in the circular are listed by the official residences of the Royals, in precedence. Only engagements which are carried out by the Queen (or on the Queen's behalf) are listed. Certain engagements carried out by non-Royals on the Queen's behalf are also listed.

Present day

Today, the following members of the British Royal Family are listed in the Court Circular:

Note that The Duke of York, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, and The Princess Royal do not actually reside permanently at Buckingham Palace, and The Duke and Duchess of Kent do not reside at St James's Palace. However, their offices are based there, and they have use of apartments at the Palaces as a London residence.

TRH Prince and Princess Michael of Kent do not appear in the Court Circular as they do not carry out official royal engagements on behalf of The Queen.

Likewise, the children of the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of York do not carry out official royal engagements and do not appear on the Court Circular. However, it is likely that they will do in the future, and will appear in order of precedence among the list above.

There has been no announcement on whether Camilla Parker Bowles will be listed in the Court Circular after her forthcoming marriage to the Prince of Wales on 9 April 2005. If she is listed, it is likely that the style The Duchess of Cornwall will be used rather than Princess of Wales.

Events commonly listed in the Court Circular

• Investures by the Queen
• Privy Council meetings attended by the Queen or a Counsellor of State
• Meetings (described as Audiences) between the Queen and the First Lord of the Treasury (Tony Blair), or the First Minister of Scotland.
• Royal engagements in the UK or abroad
• Departures of members of the Royal Family from the UK to attend events abroad
• Engagements of the Chief of the Diplomatic Corps on behalf of the Queen (usually the bidding of farewell to departing ambassadors)
• Attendance of representatives of the Royal Family at memorial services.

See Also

• British Royal Family
• British monarchy