Court Circular


The Court Circular is the official record that lists the engagements carried out by the monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms; the Royal Family; and appointments to their staff and to the court. It is issued by Buckingham Palace and printed a day in arrears at the back of The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Scotsman newspapers. An archive of the circular back to 1998 is provided on the British monarchy's website.
The circular is traditionally written in very formal language, and describes persons with their official styles and titles at all times. There has, however, been some modernisation of the writing style in recent years.

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. In response the king created an official circular to all the press that listed the engagements carried out by his family.
Until the 1960s the Circular as printed in The Times and elsewhere would record the movements of members of the upper levels of society even if they were not part of the Royal Family and were not acting on its behalf.

Structure

The Court Circular follows royal protocols very strictly. Announcements in the circular are listed by the official residences of those being reported on, in order of precedence. Only engagements which are carried out by the Queen are listed. Certain engagements carried out in the UK by persons not of the queen's family but on her behalf are also listed.

Present day

Today, the following members of the Royal Family are listed in the Court Circular:
NameResidencesStyled
Queen Elizabeth IIBuckingham Palace
Windsor Castle
Sandringham House
Balmoral Castle
Holyrood Palace
Various Government Houses		The Queen, then Her Majesty
Prince Philip, Duke of EdinburghBuckingham Palace
Windsor Castle
Sandringham House
Balmoral Castle
Holyrood Palace		The Duke of Edinburgh, then His Royal Highness
Charles, Prince of WalesClarence House
1996–2002: St James's Palace
1981–1996: Kensington Palace		The Prince of Wales, then His Royal Highness
Camilla, Duchess of CornwallClarence HouseThe Duchess of Cornwall, then Her Royal Highness
Prince William, Duke of CambridgeKensington Palace
until July 2013: St James's Palace
until July 2009: Clarence House		The Duke of Cambridge, then His Royal Highness
Catherine, Duchess of CambridgeKensington Palace
until July 2013: St James's Palace		The Duchess of Cambridge, then Her Royal Highness
Prince Henry, Duke of SussexBuckingham Palace
until May 2019: Kensington Palace
until July 2013: St James's Palace
until July 2009: Clarence House		The Duke of Sussex then His Royal Highness
Meghan, Duchess of SussexBuckingham Palace
until May 2019: Kensington Palace		The Duchess of Sussex then Her Royal Highness
Anne, Princess RoyalBuckingham PalaceThe Princess Royal, then Her Royal Highness
Prince Andrew, Duke of YorkBuckingham PalaceThe Duke of York, then His Royal Highness
Prince Edward, Earl of WessexBuckingham PalaceThe Earl of Wessex, then His Royal Highness
Sophie, Countess of WessexBuckingham PalaceThe Countess of Wessex, then Her Royal Highness
Prince Richard, Duke of GloucesterKensington PalaceThe Duke of Gloucester, then His Royal Highness
Birgitte, Duchess of GloucesterKensington PalaceThe Duchess of Gloucester, then Her Royal Highness
Prince Edward, Duke of KentSt James's PalaceThe Duke of Kent, then His Royal Highness
Katharine, Duchess of KentSt James's PalaceThe Duchess of Kent, then Her Royal Highness
Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady OgilvyBuckingham Palace
Thatched House Lodge, Richmond		Princess Alexandra, then Her Royal Highness

Note that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York, and the Earl and Countess of Wessex do not actually reside permanently at Buckingham Palace. However, their offices are based there, and they have use of apartments at the Palaces as a London residence.
Prince and Princess Michael of Kent do not appear in the Court Circular as they never carry out official royal engagements on behalf of the Queen.
Likewise Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie of York do not carry out official royal engagements and do not appear on the Court Circular. There are times they are mentioned, usually when attending an event in the company of another royal. However, it is likely that they will be listed regularly in the future, and will appear in order of precedence among the list above. Prince William began carrying out royal duties in July 2005, and was listed for the first time in his own right on 2 July for representing the Queen at a war memorial service in New Zealand.
Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence is usually listed as accompanying his wife, the Princess Royal, on visits overseas and within the United Kingdom. He was styled as Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, until 2011. Now he is styled as Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, with Vice-Admiral occasionally hyphenated.

Joint Engagements

When Royals undertake Joint Engagements, it is listed under the section of the Royal with the higher precedence. They are referred to as "X and Y", then "Their Royal Highnesses" or "Her Majesty and His/Her/Their Royal Highness."

Commonwealth realms

When the Queen is visiting one of the Commonwealth realms, the relevant Government House or hotel where she is staying is listed in the Court Circular as her residence. This differs from state visits to foreign countries where either the official residence of the foreign Head of State, or whichever hotel the Queen is staying at, or simply Buckingham Palace is listed.
When other members of the Royal Family visit one of the realms, their UK principal residence is listed.
There is no separate Court Circular for any of the Commonwealth realms other than the UK. The Court Circular only lists engagements carried out by the Queen, and not engagements carried out by others acting on her behalf outside the UK, for example by vice-regal officers such as governors or governors-general.

Events commonly listed in the Court Circular