The Royal Work Ethic - Official Data for the next month

[vera99]

Just out of interest I though I would look up the official BP work roster for the next month. Turns out Anne and the Wessexes are working their asses off and the rest apparently nothing. Happy to be corrected of course if I'm reading this wrong.

www.royal.uk/future-engagements

The others will be doing things but for security reasons it won't be announced in advance.

You may well be right but by that logic Anne and Edward are expendable.

You have posted this on another thread.

Maybe they’re practising for the Coronation, maybe someone is having their haemorrhoids seen to, maybe having a nervous breakdown after all this.

This list doesn't allow historical searching which make me think they purge the database which makes it more difficult to determine comparisons.

I'm hard at work and there is some data wonk that tops it all up from the Court Circulars if memory serves me tight but I can't find it.

Here's 1 January to now using Court Circular data,

www.royal.uk/court-circular?text=&mrf=&date%5Bmin%5D%5Bdate%5D=01%2F01%2F2022&date%5Bmax%5D%5Bdate%5D=13%2F01%2F2023&id=

Oops dates wrong - events to date this year.

www.royal.uk/court-circular?text=&mrf=&date%5Bmin%5D%5Bdate%5D=01%2F01%2F2023&date%5Bmax%5D%5Bdate%5D=13%2F01%2F2023&id=

If you search individually apparently the King has 1 event this year, and Queen C, and Wills and Kate nothing. This is clearly not correct or updated.

Many visits are only published very close to when they occur - or not until after they have - for security reasons

And there will be lots of preparation for any visit - so meetings, briefings, lots to read etc. Loads of boring admin, I should think, and dealing with day-to-day correspondence with their staff. Just because they're not making a visit on a particular day doesn't necessarily mean they're on the sofa watching Netflix!

The court circular doesn't contain the engagements attended by Charles, Kate and William yesterday, so is obviously not accurate. Sorry, that doesn't fit your narrative though

They don't do the preparation, someone does that for them!

The Cambridges/Wales stopped adding their future engagements to the list after the 2020 Covid year. I think at the time it was said to prevent big crowds from gathering at their engagements while we were all supposed to still be social distancing a little. I think the Queen and the other royals did something similar.

By the end of 2021 I noticed that Anne's team, the Wessexes and the Gloucesters had started adding their events back in - but I think they are all managed by the same communication team at Buckingham Palace.

The Queen and the Cambridges never returned to adding their events into the diary. I don't know if that's a security thing now or just became their new practice.

They do send (usually embargoed) diary entries to media contacts though for most engagements.

Aye, but they still have to prepare - they don't just rock up and say, oh yeah, the staff did the research, just speak to them....... And tbh, they'll have to be prepared for every eventuality, every question, every comment.

Everything they do is scrutinised minutely - you only have to see the bollocks in the press today about Kate's comments on talking therapy - there's been a lot over the last few days about things being taken out of context and this is a prime example.

I'm pretty sure they're not spending their days sitting on the sofa with mug of gin watching reruns of Desperate Housewives.

I do think... sorry... but they could look at what's prepared for them, and digest it in 5 minutes.

Maybe, just maybe I'm wrong, but having been the person that has prepared this sort of thing for others, it is an easy task for those that have to present it, if you are well prepared with everything you need to know.

Harry has a lot to say about the "court circular" in Spare. Apparently some members of the family are obsessed with it and will put any and all events in to up their figures (he mentions that his private visits with veterans aren't included but helicopter visits to open horse farms are).

He then goes on to list out the highlights to his start to 2015 (the subtext being look at how busy I am). It's 10 events, 3 of them taking place on the same day. The period it covers? Up until the end of April 😂 packed schedule for Harold as he had to step up and cover for Willy who was too busy preparing for fatherhood to do much work in early 2015 (Charlotte was born in May...).

At least none of them have included the Platinum Jubilee and the Queen’s funeral on their IMDb entry, like a certain duchess.

I've been away so catching up. I was going to post this on the King Constantine funeral thread as to why didn't William go as he was his godfather apparently but it looks like it has been zapped for no apparent reason that I could see.

As much as I'm a carper deposed royals are very much down the pecking order and rightly so as will ours be when the time comes for they to live their lives out as wealthy citizens. Greece is a Republic (ye !!) so in terms of intra-country diplomatic protocol it would have been left up to the RF how they want to play that. But your salient point about the Wales' being lazy is a subject of some press speculation. Their engagements to my jaundiced eye seem notable by their absence,
lackluster and lacking in passion and drive not something you can accuse Charles of who is always beavering away in both public and private. His Highgrove garden being a stunning achievement and the Prince's Trust. His father had the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme which has stood the test of time , Harry - Invictus hugely respected.

W&K nothing of note though I'm sure somebody will come along with the party line and their big ticket Jamaica visit was widely regarded as PR disaster that did harm than good they are 40 years old ffs this is their hugely rewarded job !

^www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1715356/Kate-Middleton-defended-list-least-busy-royals-engagements^

Vera - good lord you need a hobby

Haha you read my mind, the obsession is unbelievable 🤣. Crist even I only dip in for short periods every now and again, for some it seems it's a lifestyle choice to obsess over people they dislike.

All I(we) are asking for is a degree of transparency and accountability post QE2. When I worked as did most of us had annual performance reviews, key performance indicators and the rest. They are in receipt of large amounts of public funds and the public therefore has a right to know that money is spent and what outcomes were achieved. No one ever had cause to ask that of the late Queen and probably for good reason. KC is a grafter as was PP who remarked without work everything's crumbles.

The Royals Household's need to get their act together, act in a coordinated fashion and publish retrospectively if needs be what I have asked for above. If not then we have cause to believe that they are indeed taking the piss and getting money for old rope. Vague assertions about tourism and such just don't cut the mustard.

Had a lights on moment this morning that as a transitional demand that at the death of each monarch we go into a 6 month interregnum when the children of the monarch are assumed to be in the running for the handover. At the end of say a 6 month period we have a referendum with two questions.

1. Do you wish to have a monarchy (yes/no)
2. If yes cast a vote amongst the children as to who that would be.
3. As to the vote it should have to over 50% of the registered electorate.
4. If none of the direct heirs wish to put their names forward then the monarchy will have deemed to have dissolved itself and their will be an orderly transition to a republic.

That deals with the issue of the 'spare' and makes the monarchy acutely aware that they routinely need to get buy in from the public for their continuation. Once Sir Keir has got to work abolishing the House of Lords (long overdue) time for a Royal Commission to report on the future of the monarchy in the modern age.

Well done Vera
'You need a hobby ' is the standard response when you've hit them with a few home truths

Marvellous

And the royalists can approve of this too as they know the royals are loved and will walk any vote!
....don't they ?

Thanks - we don't need to get into the trenches with he said / she said and it's the British way evolution not revolution. Anybody got Harry's email we need to talk.

The beauty of this as well is it's that gives an honorable way out for the Windsors should they say enough is enough. Bowyer was chucking his weight around in the press demanding that Charles's doesn't give in to Harry's demands as were others in the right wing sphere on the basis that the institution should be robustly defended by the monarch with the veiled threat then if not, why support them anymore ? Seemingly denying him personal agency in the matter of how he should deal with his errant son. To be fair to him a constitutional monarch is just that a blob of historic contradictions that require skilful mastery in the modern age all done under the looming shadow of the previous near 'perfect' Queen.

Do the Kings red boxes count as an engagement, what about the PM meetings?

Did HMQ not traditionally stay at Sandringham until February so effectively had some down time in January? Other than the red boxes and PM.meetings?

Red boxes are read , digest and sign and then have a chat about with the PM once a week. He cannot alter what is in them as they are briefings about ministerial policy (though that has not stopped the black spider memos which have 'unconstitutionally' tried to influence government policy )

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_spider_memos

The usual perfidious "change strategies" always start from a principle of the status qou is not an option. The Red Boxes would have to pass the "if he didn't do them then what would happen" - nothing so they don't pass the sniff test and their justification would be some vague waffle which any decent middle manager would smoke out. The Queen signed the prorogation of Parliament for Johnson which was widely believed to be unconstitutional but did nothing only for the courts to declare it (quite rightly) illegal.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_British_prorogation_controversy

There will be annual paid leave of course and bank holidays. I'll be generous and give them 30 !