Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip Reducing Workload (2016 Patronage Handover)

[AdmirerUS]

Well, yes Tommy100, but what does it tell because there are a lot of ways to interpret that chart. Also - it's off topic, here.

 

[tommy100]

Maybe then it needs moving threads

 

[royal-blue]

What is the very minimum the Queen would have to do if she continues to hand down more responsibility in future?

Would it be possible to carry out her duties as monarch solely from Windsor Castle, if such a time came in the future where she wanted to avoid the weekly commute to BP and back?

 

[Jacknch]

What is the very minimum the Queen would have to do if she continues to hand down more responsibility in future?

Would it be possible to carry out her duties as monarch solely from Windsor Castle, if such a time came in the future where she wanted to avoid the weekly commute to BP and back?

I would have thought the basic requirements would be her Constitutional obligations such as the red boxes, signing assent to laws etc, State Opening of Parliament once a year and the weekly meeting with the Prime Minister - all of these apart from the State Opening of Parliament could be performed at Windsor or elsewhere.

 

[cepe]

What is the very minimum the Queen would have to do if she continues to hand down more responsibility in future?

Would it be possible to carry out her duties as monarch solely from Windsor Castle, if such a time came in the future where she wanted to avoid the weekly commute to BP and back?

Good question. HMQ currently does close to 80% of her engagements at either BP or Windsor. Of the remainder, there are Services of Commemoration/Remembrance in London, National events, 6 at Royal Ascot, plus Holyrood Week. The remainder are visits across the country.

For a monarch who believes in being seen, that is close to the minimum.

Of the work she does at BP/Windsor that is the work of the Sovereign. There is one she is sharing (Investitures) but meetings the PM, Government Officials, Church Officals (also Hof CofE), Ambassadors cannot be handed over. Nor can the Red Boxes.

It isn't practical for the PM and all the Ambassadors, Heads of State etc. to travel to Windsor. And her Head Office is BP.

So I think she is close to the workload limit and she has to work out of BP.

Her staff may spend time on her charities but she does not visit them often and the recent handover of 25 does not impact on her actual workload.

Other royals can take charities and patronages on and be active with them, but regardless of the screams of angst from the UK tabloids, there is little/nothing they can do to reduce her actual workload.

 

[Dman]

Good question. HMQ currently does close to 80% of her engagements at either BP or Windsor. Of the remainder, there are Services of Commemoration/Remembrance in London, National events, 6 at Royal Ascot, plus Holyrood Week. The remainder are visits across the country.

For a monarch who believes in being seen, that is close to the minimum.

Of the work she does at BP/Windsor that is the work of the Sovereign. There is one she is sharing (Investitures) but meetings the PM, Government Officials, Church Officals (also Hof CofE), Ambassadors cannot be handed over. Nor can the Red Boxes.

It isn't practical for the PM and all the Ambassadors, Heads of State etc. to travel to Windsor. And her Head Office is BP.

So I think she is close to the workload limit and she has to work out of BP.

Her staff may spend time on her charities but she does not visit them often and the recent handover of 25 does not impact on her actual workload.

Other royals can take charities and patronages on and be active with them, but regardless of the screams of angst from the UK tabloids, there is little/nothing they can do to reduce her actual workload.

Yup, it's why I have stated that she and even, Prince Philip, can hand down more responsibilities to the younger royals and none of it would make that much of a difference to their workloads.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

"To be seen" of course has a total different connotation in 1952 than in 2017. Millions can follow the Queen, or the Obamas, or the Pope. The number of people who have effectively seen the Queen in the flesh is dwarfed by the numbers of people seeing her in the electronic domain. So when the Queen does duties, audiences, receptions, investitures, etc. from Windsor Castle and allows publication, millions still can see the monarch at work.

When Queen Victoria slowed down, she was litterally invisible. When Queen Elisabeth just makes a ride with the Range Rover in Windsor Great Park, it is immediately on sites, facebook, instagram, twitter and the whole rambam.

With other words, the 90 year old monarch can fairly well "be seen" while mainly staying at Windsor, if she wants.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Of the work she does at BP/Windsor that is the work of the Sovereign. There is one she is sharing (Investitures) but meetings the PM, Government Officials, Church Officals (also Hof CofE), Ambassadors cannot be handed over. Nor can the Red Boxes.

Not strictly true.

In the early 2000s she and Philip were visiting somewhere in England for a two day visit and Andrew and Edward, as Counsellors-of-State met with incoming and outgoing Ambassadors on her behalf according to the Court Circular. I remember it as it was the last time I saw mention of the CoSs actually doing anything official and the fact that she was in the country but out of London struck me as well.

 

[cepe]

She isn't travelling much in the UK either. She can do Privy Council - its getting out and about.

The topic of this thread is reducing workload. I think that she is close to the limit of how much she can reduce without giving ground on the work of the Sovereign.

I think it's an issue for her. What should be happening is some of that load given over to Charles and he hands some of his stuff over to Cambridges/Harry. That's what's going to happen in the longer term.

Frankly, its her duty to do that, IMO

Additional Thought:

The only thing other members of the BRF can do is more work in order to keep the numbers up.

That isn't helped her reduce her workload - its a PR exercise.

 

[Skippyboo]

The Queen isn't really out there doing charity work. She already splitting the investitures with Charles, Anne and William. Without a regency, what duties can she pass to Charles? She can't really pass the meetings with the PM or signing the paperwork.

 

[cepe]

The only reduction that could be made is handing some of the Sovereign's work - probably greeting Ambassadors (that's 2-3 times a week); all of the investitures. That's about it.

And not travelling around the country.

It's tricky because it looks like the other family members aren't helping but unless she decides to hand over this stuff, there isn't much they can do.
But their reputation is getting bad press.

Balls in her court.

 

[Rudolph]

The sense of divine purpose can't be overlooked. She believes she is Queen by the grace of God.

The Archbishop of Canterbury said to her “As Solomon was anointed king by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, so be thou anointed, blessed, and consecrated Queen over the Peoples, whom the Lord thy God hath given thee to rule and govern”


That's some heady stuff. She must be loathed to have to relinquish any duties,

 

[tommy100]

What are The Queen’s powers? – Royal Central

This gives a good overview of the queen's powers and thus what she would still have to do as sovereign. In reality there is not that much, yes the Queen does a lot but remember Q Victoria did not even open parliament in person. Much of the Queen's 'powers' are in fact carried out by others with her signing / agreeing to them.

 

[cepe]

The sense of divine purpose can't be overlooked. She believes she is Queen by the grace of God.

The Archbishop of Canterbury said to her “As Solomon was anointed king by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, so be thou anointed, blessed, and consecrated Queen over the Peoples, whom the Lord thy God hath given thee to rule and govern”


That's some heady stuff. She must be loathed to have to relinquish any duties,

You're right.

But it shouldn't stop her delegating. As I said, it's tricky

 

[Osipi]

I seriously believe that the Scouts have taken their motto from the example of HMQ. "Be prepared". As much as HM would never relinquish what she deems is her duties as monarch, she's also very aware of the fact that she's human. She will never give up doing her red boxes but yet, just in case, Charles gets what I believe is the blue boxes and there's been comments lately that even William is starting to be somewhat involved in the business of the boxes. Just in case.

This wonderful woman is not now and has never been one to seek out the easy chair at every opportunity and has remained active by walking, riding and in general, doing. Long hauls and the stress of traveling have been passed on to the younger sets but I do believe that to totally slow down and stay in one place would not go over well with either the Queen or the DoE. I am reminded of this fact every time I see a picture of HM riding out in Windsor Great Park or Philip taking a drive in his beloved carriage.

They will do as much as they can for as long as they can and to be honest, I think its this attitude that attributes to their longevity.

 

[Dman]

The only reduction that could be made is handing some of the Sovereign's work - probably greeting Ambassadors (that's 2-3 times a week); all of the investitures. That's about it.

And not travelling around the country.

It's tricky because it looks like the other family members aren't helping but unless she decides to hand over this stuff, there isn't much they can do.
But their reputation is getting bad press.

Balls in her court.

That's right, the balls in her court. I do think she's finally caving in and realizing it's time to hand some stuff down. I wouldn't be surprised if we hear of some more transitions of roles this year.

 

[Osipi]

That's right, the balls in her court. I do think she's finally caving in and realizing it's time to hand some stuff down. I wouldn't be surprised if we hear of some more transitions of roles this year.

I believe you're right Dman. I think the plan was to get the year of the 90th birthday and surpassing Queen Victoria's length of reign done with before seriously working on the transition plans between one monarch to the next. We're entering into what we could possibly call a "bridge" stage where things are seamlessly and gradually put into place for the start of Charles' reign.

Its not so much the Queen "caving in" to old age as much as I would think that with her mindset of the responsibility and duties that are hers as monarch, it is also her responsibility and duty that the monarchy continue into the future as seamlessly as possible.

This is a family that plans far ahead into the future and nothing is ever left to chance or left to cross that bridge when they come to it. They build and execute the bridges long before they are needed.

 

[TLLK]

The only reduction that could be made is handing some of the Sovereign's work - probably greeting Ambassadors (that's 2-3 times a week); all of the investitures. That's about it.

And not travelling around the country.

It's tricky because it looks like the other family members aren't helping but unless she decides to hand over this stuff, there isn't much they can do.
But their reputation is getting bad press.

Balls in her court.

Excellent summary of the situation in the UK cepe.

 

[royal-blue]

It seems that both HM and Prince Philip have both relinquished travelling abroad for visits or engagements. Are there any circumstances/events where this would change? Eg any particular funeral they would definitely not miss?

 

[Iluvbertie]

Philip may go to a funeral of close family in Germany. The Queen hardly even attends funerals of close family in the UK so I don't see her going to Europe in person for one.

 

[Princess Larisa]

Queen to step down as patron of 25 charities - BBC News


https://www.royal.uk/queens-patronages

Full list of new patrons, now that they've all been confirmed:



Holocaust Day Memorial Trust - Charles
Royal Institution of Great Britain - Charles
Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust – Charles
Battersea Dogs Home – Camilla
Barnardo's - Camilla
Royal School of Needlework – Camilla
Royal African Society – William
Welsh Rugby Union – William
Amateur Swimming Association - William
Action for Children - Catherine
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) Wimbledon – Catherine
Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) – Catherine
Blind Veterans UK - Sophie
Rugby Football Union - Harry
Rugby Football League - Harry
Edinburgh International Festival – Edward
Sport and Recreation Alliance – Edward
British Cycling Federation – Sophie
NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) - Sophie
Royal Navy and Royal Marines Children's Fund - Andrew
British Science Association – Andrew
Institution of Civil Engineers – Andrew
Animal Health Trust – Anne
Royal Geographical Society – Anne
Save the Children UK – Anne