Court Circular - Reality

[FlyOnAWing]

Court Circular goes up to the 10th of March and records royal engagements. Number of engagements are reported on and the annual number announced every year. So in 2022 Charles did 181 engagements. But what do engagements look like? Below are the engagements for the main Royals for the last 2 days available. During this time Charles did 11 engagements in two days. His average number of engagements in one month is 15. So one more day and Charles will have done as many engagements as he does in a month. He is the second hardest working Royal.

Last year William had 121 engagements, a monthly average of 10 engagements. In these two days he did 4 engagements at less than 2 hours work each day. He only has to work another three days in March to hit his annual average engagements.

10th March:
William: Attended Official Opening of the Gates of Temple Bar - about an hours work
Received Hannah Jones - 20 minutes work
Camilla: Visited ITM Power plc - about an hours work.
Charles attended the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal - this is just listening to music
At that event was received by His Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant - 20 minutes

9th March:
Charles visited Ashridge House, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, and planted a tree - about an hour
His Excellency the Hon. Philip Goff was received in audience by The King today upon his appointment as High Commissioner for New Zealand in London - max 20 mins
Mrs. Goff was also received by His Majesty - max 20 mins
His Excellency the Hon. Stephen Smith was received in audience by The King upon his appointment as High Commissioner for the Commonwealth of Australia in London - max 20 mins
Ms. Jane Seymour was also received by His Majesty - max 20 mins
The King received Addresses from Privileged Bodies to which His Majesty was graciously pleased to make reply - 20 mins
King held a Reception at Buckingham Palace - max 1 hour
King visited the Animal and Plant Health Agency, - 1 hour
His Majesty received briefings on the work of the Agency and visited the Avian Influenza Virology High Containment Laboratory and the Genome Mapping Laboratory, before visiting the Library and meeting members of staff and scientists. - 1 hour

Camilla planted trees - 30 minutes
William and Kate - visited Hayes Muslim Centre - 1 hour
Were received by Deputy Lieutenant - 20 minutes

Utter nonsense

They are free to leave their 'gilded cage' yet somehow they don't

'Duty'= PR bullshit and most people are wise to it

@Novella4 I think I am more in @EdithHowland 's campo here .

I once read that being a working Royal means your diary is set for at leat 3 years hence , Your life is in many ways not your own . Of course huge privileges come along with that. I think the late Queen thought of duty , I think Charles will , and I think William will. The rest of them well , they can do what they like but expect not to be subsidised. ( Unless they do actually turn up consistently as working Royals - so I think Anne is fabulous & I think the Wessex / Edinburgh couple have realised this is their job and they have settled into it and try their best )

Ha ha ha I am practically a Royal Expert 😁( or indeed not )

But when you factor in digging the hole, mixing in some horse shit into the soil, filling up the hole, hammering in the post and tying it on, then watering it, It's much more labour intensive than it might sound.

Can't work out if this is meant to be humorous or if you genuinely think Camilla's the one getting down and dirty.

Just in case it's the latter I can promise you she isn't.

I once read that being a working Royal means your diary is set for at leat 3 years hence , Your life is in many ways not your own . Of course huge privileges come along with that. I think the late Queen thought of duty

They don't work in any meaningful sense and they can walk away at any time but overwhelmingly choose not to. The perks are and always have been very clearly worth the trade-off.

The late Queen paid dutiful lip service to 'serving the nation' while prioritising preserving the institution and its many privileges for those within.

Well there are junior staff in any company, that’s not to say the directors don’t work hard.

I don’t know know how hard the RF work, because I don’t follow them, but I do know that the public engagements they do are only part of their work.

I do know that the public engagements they do are only part of their work

Link?

Each one of them has hundreds of staff working for them, easing their path. Everything is researched and handed to them on a plate.

So, let's say, William was due at some sort of Outreach centre. Every single thing would be provided for him. Who the staff are there, the focus and purpose of the Centre, the questions to ask, the history of the centre, the future plans. William has 149 private staff, they do everything for him. They even set out his clothes to wear! So as long as he reads the bullet points provided for him, he can just turn up and say the right thing. Royal visits tend to last about half an hour so it's hardly taxing is it? Just get up, read the notes, get in the luxury limousine provided and do your thing.
Tick
Another one to add to the Court Circular.

149? 😵
I was thinking about a dozen!
Does that figure include Katherine and the dc too?

Housekeeper, 2 cleaners, gardener x2, 2 cooks, general help, clothes person (valet x2) security x 4, nanny x2, 2 chauffeurs, 2 personal trainers, 2 hair and make up, maybe 4 secretaries, a press secretary, palace liaison bod? That’s 28.

Maybe double that for two residences?

Even triple it for three residences (Amber, Windsor, Ken Pal) and you only get to
84!

What am I missing?

Dog-walkers?
Shoppers?
Do you think they have their own sommelier?
???

How many more do you need?

I think Roussette got the 149 figure from the Daily Express as it's the only place it appears to be quoted. And the quote is wrong anyway. But who cares about accuracy.

It's strange that Charles, Camilla, Kate, William, Sophie, Anne etc etc have all these staff doing absolutely every little thing for them, yet Harry and Meghan arranged and administered all their undertakings themselves. Everything, from putting up the signage for the Invictus games, making the sandwiches for the tea break, writing and printing the cookbooks and parcelling them up for distribution - driving the delivery cans too. Amazing!

It's shrouded in secrecy, no idea if it's just him or both of them. All you have said above plus...
Equerries
Media consultants
Digital leads
Communications secretaries
Private secretaries
Spokespersons
Numerous 'advisers'
Secretaries
Logistics officer
Press officers

and so on..... and that's not even going into the nannies, cooks, wardrobe organisers, hairdresser, and all that guff

Delivery vans, not cans. But I'm sure they delivered cans too. They do everything.

I think Roussette got the 149 figure from the Daily Express as it's the only place it appears to be quoted. And the quote is wrong anyway. But who cares about accuracy.

Thanks for that.

No idea why you are shoehorning H&M into this.

I’ve left out estate managers, one for each property, let’s add in dog walkers too and say two extra in catering. (I am obsessed now! 😄)

84 + 3+ 6 = 93? Maybe 2 more for each property to work on fencing, tree planting, etc? So that fig goes up to 99. And then let’s add in 10 more admin staff.

So that’s 109 in total?
So who are all the others?

And the above total of 109 is generous because presumably some staff like nannies and hair and clothes , pts and chefs etc,follow them around? Apart from a permanent security team, the rest won’t be on permanent standby in Norfolk!

Does William keep a stable of horses? Do they have a gamekeeper in Norfolk?

Still don’t know how you get to 149! 🤔

The RF employ over 1,200 people. So 149 is quite a conservative figure I would imagine.

Just caught up that’s it’s from the Express!

I wonder where they got it from?
Is it a matter of public record etc?

Oh well, good to know how the other half live!

I would absolutely hate the loss of privacy but just imagine having three houses which you know will be kept immaculately and decorated, with gorgeous grounds, where you could invite friends for lunch any day of the week and all you would have to do towards it would be to conceive the idea and chat with chef! I’m not jealous at all! 😀

149 out of 1,200 staff for the heir to the throne is really quite realistic, Express or not!

Do you think so Roussette? (Genuine question.)

I am gob-smacked by that figure, if it’s true!

Especially if staff follow them around and are presumably not sitting twiddling their thumbs in Norfolk waiting for them to appear for the holidays?

Of course the sorry truth is that none of us will ever know the exact details will we? Presumably royal accounts are kept in an archive for historians to take through in 200 years time?

rake through

No we will never know detail. It is opaque.

However, payroll costs are £27million in total (figure taken from the official Sovereign Grant Financial report 2021/22 published by the RF, I can link it if anyone wants to see it)

That's a lot of staff.....

But the figure of 149 staff for William quoted is not correct. In fact, all of the other references to their household that came up suggest they actually don't have many staff at all.

I'm not 'shoehorning' Harry and Meghan into anything. They undertook duties which were listed on the court circular. I'm just querying whether you think they did all the preparation themselves, or did they have staff doing the prep.

Oh, and the Sovereign Grant Report details numbers if staff paid out of the sovereign grant.

Have you a link for 149 staff not being correct?

There is plenty of references to them doing it all themselves and being 'hands on'. That is laughable now he is heir to the throne. There would hardly be £27million payroll costs for monarchy staff if he had just one secretary and a part timer {grin]

Yes you are shoehoring H&M into the conversation, they left over three years ago. They have no royal staff.

Yes... I know that. Quite obviously. I have read the Sovereign Grant Financial Summary 21/22.

I have no idea what your point is. They don't have many staff and do it all themselves, is that it?

'Have you a link for 149 staff not being correct?'

Sure - link

You said you read the SGR but that figures for numbers of staff are opaque. But the figures are in the SGR

There are five main Departments of the Royal Household:

The Private Secretary’s Office supports the Head of State in their constitutional, governmental and political duties. Organising domestic and overseas official programmes, they also advise on constitutional matters, and take responsibility for everything from speeches and correspondence, to official presents and congratulatory messages to members of the public.

The Privy Purse and Treasurer’s Office includes support functions such as Finance, HR, IT and Telecoms, Internal Audit and Property Services.

The Master of the Household’s Department handles everything involved in the official and private entertaining of the royal family including hospitality, catering and housekeeping arrangements. As such, their team includes everyone from florists and upholsterers to specialist craftspeople and caterers.

The Lord Chamberlain’s Office is responsible for organising ceremonial activity or public facing events. These range from garden parties, state visits, royal honours, royal weddings and the State Opening of Parliament etc.

The Royal Collection Trust is responsible for the care and presentation of the Royal Collection, and managing the public opening of the official residences.