...so what exactly is "service and duty"?

[ServiceAndDuty]

After countless threads on the royal family, I feel nobody goes into full detail of what the royal family do apart from the same phrase "service and duty".

I genuinely would like to be enlightened on what this "service and duty" is, not including showing up to events and waving, watching tennis and rugby matches, opening places, having an expensive wedding sometimes etc.

I feel nobody has really answered in detail what it is.

I am open to being educated if I'm missing something.

I think people are purposely being obtuse.
Of course I'm not asking the actual definition of service and duty but so many people throw the phrase around "service and duty" when speaking about the royal family and what they do and then when someone comments back what exactly do they do, nobody really has a good answer

TBF she could look that up as easily as she could look up dictionary definitions.

Just a little bit suss to make change for this too.

I’m no monarchist, but even I can understand that HMQ worked hard for no (additional) personal gain. In the sane squaddies and clergy go above and beyond.

@Eastangular2000 many people can't just leave their jobs when they want as they have bills to pay and no other options.
So apart from waving sometimes, expensive wedding, watching sports, talking to people, what do they do to still earn this heredity power and wealth?

@FromageRouge can you give examples of the working hard?

But the Queen didn't actually have to "work" until her 90's, she could have stepped aside. I understand that there's elements of laws etc that the monarch signs off on but it's not as though they need a law degree for that. Maybe that's part of the "service" a monarch provides?

IMO there's too many members of the royal family that seem to serve little purpose.

Meeting the pm every week.
Giving out alms at Easter
Opening parliament
Military stuff
Rememberence Sunday
Church stuff
Meeting and greeting foreign dignitaries
Not being able to have a private family event
Following covid rules (I know most of us did but there have been some other notable exceptions)
Always saying the right thing.
Never expressing a personal opinion.
Making small talk with a lot of people.

I'm not diagnosed but I think I'm on the spectrum and the royal life is my worst nightmare.

@HotDogKetchup What brother?

No you’re being obtuse.

Why have you name changed or registered just to ask something that’s easily looked up?

If you mean the RF are obscenely rich, yes they are (some of them), but working long hours, having no retirement, frequently being bored witless, to someone else’s agenda for a supposedly greater purpose isn’t a life of champagne and giggles either.

“Service and duty” applies to lots of jobs and lifestyles outside of the monarchy.

Sigh. Google ‘Court Circular’ and go to the website. Put in some dates and the royal of your choice and it’ll give you a list of what engagements and meetings they have. You can search retrospectively.

Doing stuff you don’t want to do, saying things you don’t want to say, not saying things you do want to say, entertaining world leaders you disagree with. Having limited freedoms, being controlled by protocol.

Im not sure how nurses or lawyers doing things they don’t want to do changes the situation with regards to the monarchy’s duties?

It's a good question. It was intimated in yesterday's coverage that the Queen had something to do with achieving peace in N. Ireland. Well actually, the way it was stated is: "her presence and influence helped achieve…" so whether she had any direct involvement who knows.
Ultimately the Royal Family are there to uphold and embodify the class system, including the idea that everyone should look up to their example and be honoured to be associated with them. If this crumbles then all the knighthoods, honours etc aren't worth a rat's ass and David Beckham will be crying even more.

Go and goad someone who cares.

Trolling a dead nonagenarian who put the hours in , isn’t really to my taste. Even an immensely privileged nonagenarian.

@StrictlyAFemaleFemale but I'm really confused how all that is service and duty and still worth all that heredity wealth?

Teachers are not allowed to express political views to the children they teach.

We all had to follow COVID rules and have minimised funerals and weddings.

Many people attend church and remembrance events and dont see it as a "job"

What I find remarkable is that I've not heard one anecdote or story about anything the Queen actually did that benefited her people. Literally not one.

You hear that she was a wonderful woman. That she served for 70 years. That she did her duty. That she was a wonder. A remarkable woman. A national treasure.

Never any specifics...just about her existence and how wonderful she was. It's quite fascinating when you tune into this fact and see it repeated on every news story, every interview of a member of the public.

I would hazard a guess that in the numerous interviews of the public yesterday, all going on about how wonderful she was...if the reporter had asked the question 'and what do you think her biggest achievement or greatest contribution was?' - most people would reply with the same guff about 70 years/great sense of humour/doing her duty/serving her Country. Never specifics.

For example, here’s what Charles & Camilla did on 2 May 2019:

The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, President, The Prince's Foundation, this morning held a Meeting at Dumfries House, Cumnock, Ayrshire.

His Royal Highness, Patron, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, afterwards received Mr. Simon Milne (Regius Keeper).

The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, President, The Prince's Foundation, this afternoon visited Dumfries House Festival of Farming.

His Royal Highness, Royal Founding Patron, Business in the Community, later attended a Meeting at Dumfries House.

The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, President, The Prince's Foundation, this evening held a Dinner for supporters at Dumfries House.

The Duchess of Cornwall, Patron, this morning visited the National Stud, Newmarket, and was received by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire (Mrs. Julie Spence).

Her Royal Highness, Honorary Member, the Jockey Club, afterwards attended a Lunch at the Jockey Club Rooms, High Street, Newmarket, and was received by Mr. Andrew Merriam (Deputy Lieutenant of Suffolk).

@FromageRouge I'm not trolling anyone and I never mention Queen Elizabeth specifically, there are other royals apart from her and what do they do?
I find just accusing someone of "trolling" after they ask a question to be telling. I'm not arguing with anyone, just interested in what this service and duty is and like I said, willing to be educated.
But I won't continue to respond to you

Well just as a START she went through the Govt red boxes EVERY DAY. I think she had two days off per year from that.

@LadyHarmby you’ll waste hours C&Ping that stuff. OP is only here to goad. Look at the username.

The idea that “duty and service” is a royal-specific notion is so elitist and OP doesn’t seem to have noticed s/he is buying into it.

It doesn’t take much to Google what the Queen did. You say showing up to events and opening stuff as if it’s easy. But she apparently planted around 1,500 trees in her lifetime, had to tour hospitals, schools, charities and meet people, shake hands, pretend to be interested in them, listen to explanations of their work, make endless small talk. Hosting dignitaries, being involved in the menus and being up to speed on politics. There was the daily red box of papers. Writing letters, cards, all those 100th birthday telegrams. Opening parliament. Investitures. Speeches.

Of course it was a life of privilege and she got to enjoy her passion for horses etc but a lot of it was probably very tedious. And I’m sure a lot of planning goes on behind the scenes to make sure royal tours go well, the outfits, the literal dressing, the nods to hosts. It doesn’t just happen.

Can I highlight, I'm not just talking about Queen Elizabeth here. What do William and Catherine do that equates to service and duty?

But we do it because that's life, they do what they do because it's what is expected. It is like being in a cult. Do you know the schedule of the monarch? Reading all the papers, reading the previous day's parliamentary business, meeting with the PM, other dignitaries etc.
Going to world meetings, summits etc keeps the UK relevant. We aren't as great or important as we think. The royal pomp is the one thing that only we do. The royal women showcase British fashion and their individual interest, horseracing etc. The rich middle easterns among others like to be associated with our royalty. This raises the profile of holidaying, shopping, sending their children to school etc in the UK. There's a whole code of conduct from birth until death which I suppose is duty and service. Opening up Balmoral will raise the profile of that area and make money, create jobs for a lot of people.

I didn’t say you were trolling. I said you were goading.

Why else would you NC?

I think the late Queen was a good example of the "ultimate celebrity" from a time when such people were not as numerous. Everyone in the world knew who she was, saw her photos in the media, knew all about her life and family… She was glamourous and wore amazing outfits. And the fact that she had some admirable qualities and spoke of the hoi polloi as "her people" made her all the more likeable.
Does it all serve any purpose apart from encouraging tourism and selling magazines? A good question. Perhaps she inspired or set an example of good behaviour in those that admired her. I don't really know.

Here

www.bustle.com/entertainment/queen-elizabeths-daily-routine-what-her-majesty-does-in-a-typical-day

The head of state has weekly meetings with the PM. They are briefed daily by their staff as to what's in the red box which I think is delivered every day. Also briefed on new laws as there is a requirement for Head of State to sign off all new laws. Constitutionally it's a grey area as to whether HoS can refuse to sign off a law. It's an interesting question.

They also entertain visiting dignitaries, undertake visits to their patronages, and undertake overseas tours as required by the PM. Check the court circular, some of it's in there.