2013 Annual Engagements Thread

[Iluvbertie]

Weekly update to 7th March

A quietish week - The Queen was of course laid up for most of it and Charles and Camilla also had a quiet week but with a Mid-East tour coming up in all likelihood they were doing preparations for that tour. They will be quite busy of the next week on the tour.

HM The Queen - 49 (48 - up 1)
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh - 19 (16 - up 3)
HRH The Prince of Wales - 102 (97 - up 5)
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 40 (38 - up 2)
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 1 (1 - no change)
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 6 (3 - up 3)
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 5 (5 - no change)
HRH The Duke of York - 48 (46 - up 2)
HRH Princess Beatrice of York - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Princess Eugenie of York - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 32 (28 - up 4)
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 26 (21 - up 5)
HRH The Princess Royal - 85 (73 - up 12)
Vice-Admiral Tim Lawrence - 5 (5 - no change)
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 26 (20 - up 6)
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 12 (9 - up 3)
HRH The Duke of Kent - 43 (34 - up 9)
HRH The Duchess of Kent - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Prince Michael of Kent – 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Princess Michael of Kent - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Princess Alexandra - 0 (0 - no change)

Order from most downwards - the 'league table' if you like. I refuse to calculate how people are moving up or down that list. I do move people around who have moved up or down but I am not putting in how many places they are moving - although usually it is only one place in either direction.

HRH The Prince of Wales - 102
HRH The Princess Royal - 85
HM The Queen – 49
HRH The Duke of York - 48
HRH The Duke of Kent - 43
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 40
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 32
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 26
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 26
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh – 19
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 12
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 6
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 5
Vice-Admiral Tim Lawrence - 5
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 1
HRH Princess Beatrice of York – 0
HRH Princess Eugenie of York - 0
HRH The Duchess of Kent - 0
HRH Prince Michael of Kent – 0
HRH Princess Michael of Kent -0
HRH Princess Alexandra - 0

Year to date total - 499

Days on which official engagements were undertaken to 7th March:

HM The Queen - 18
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh - 11
HRH The Prince of Wales - 33
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 19
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 1
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 4
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 2
HRH The Duke of York - 17
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 16
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 17
HRH The Princess Royal - 34
Commander Tim Lawrence - 4
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 18
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 9
HRH The Duke of Kent - 22

All others to this point - 0

[AdmirerUS]

Originally Posted by Iluvbertie

They haven't been on an individual official engagement but last year both did engagements with other royals - Beatrice went with The Queen and Philip to the Maundy Service while Eugenie accompanied her father on an engagement.

They have done things individually e.g. Beatrice received the Olympic Torch at Harewood House - no credit but when William, Kate and Harry received it at BP they were given credit. The same with presenting Olympic medals - Anne and Kate were given credit but not Eugenie.

Earlier this year both girls represented the UK government on a two day tour of Germany but The Queen didn't regard these two days and the various events involved as official engagements, despite representing the nation, and so nothing in the CC.

Thanks for the observation, Iluvbertie. I am sure most of us would have missed it. Not cricket, in my opinion. I think often about how to heal the York schism (as I find myself calling it).

[Iluvbertie]

I don't think there is a schism but more this is reflective of public demand for fewer obvious royals and so the girls aren't going to be supported by the monarch but will have to support themselves or be supported by their future husbands.

[VictoriaB]

Originally Posted by AdmirerUS

Thanks for the observation, Iluvbertie. I am sure most of us would have missed it. Not cricket, in my opinion. I think often about how to heal the York schism (as I find myself calling it).

I think you may be reading too much into it. We simply don't know the reason why the York girls don't get mentioned in the Court Circular. As Bertie pointed out, there was an occasion recently when Charles and Anne both attended the same event - Anne got a mention in CC whereas Charles didn't.

If the intention is to cut down on the number of Royals performing public engagements as a cost cutting exercise then it makes sense that the grandchildren, with the exception of William and Harry, are the ones cut. The girls are not the only grandchildren of monarchs who don't carry out public engagements - Prince Michael, Zara, Peter, David Linley and Sarah Chatto are all in the same position as Beatrice & Eugenie.

The Palace has to be aware of the bad publicity they attract over the perceived costs of Royal engagements, justified or not. The days of multiple Royals undertaking engagements are probably over.

Simply because something has been done a certain way in the past doesn't mean it should continue that without a good reason. I'm aware of the argument that there will simply not be enough working Royals to continue with the same level of engagements as they do today. It may be that there will simply be a streamlining of the type of work that the Royal Family undertakes.

I remember when Diana resigned her patronages many of her charities were forced to take on non-Royal patrons. I read one article a year or so later when the spokesperson for the charity said it had actually turned out to be a good thing. The non-royal had been able to fund raise and devote time to them in ways in which Diana could not either because she was constrained by protocol or because she simply had so many charities that she simply could not devote the same time to them. So change may not (and I emphasise may) turn out to be a bad thing for the charities or the Royal Family.

[Iluvbertie]

The reason why the York girls don't get mentioned in the CC is simple - The Queen doesn't want them mentioned and she is the one who deterimines what is and what isn't an official engagement. Even when the royal is representing the government it is still up to The Queen to decide whether to acknowledge that in the CC and she says 'no' to the girls.

[Iluvbertie]

Weekly update to 14th March

This was quite a busy week as is always the case when there are foreign tours involved. Even the Queen managed double-figures despite cancelling engagements.

HM The Queen - 60 (49 - up 11)
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh - 28 (19 - up 9)
HRH The Prince of Wales - 121 (102 - up 19)
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 55 (40 - up 15)
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 1 (1 - no change)
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 6 (6 - no change)
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 5 (5 - no change)
HRH The Duke of York - 58 (48 - up 10)
HRH Princess Beatrice of York - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Princess Eugenie of York - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 43 (32 - up 9)
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 37 (26 - up 11)
HRH The Princess Royal - 93 (85 - up 8)
Vice-Admiral Tim Lawrence - 6 (5 - up 1)
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 35 (26 - up 9)
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 14 (12 - up 2)
HRH The Duke of Kent - 52 (43 - up 9)
HRH The Duchess of Kent - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Prince Michael of Kent – 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Princess Michael of Kent - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Princess Alexandra - 0 (0 - no change)

Order from most downwards - the 'league table' if you like. I refuse to calculate how people are moving up or down that list. I do move people around who have moved up or down but I am not putting in how many places they are moving - although usually it is only one place in either direction.

HRH The Prince of Wales - 121
HRH The Princess Royal - 93
HM The Queen – 60
HRH The Duke of York - 58
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 55
HRH The Duke of Kent - 52
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 43
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 37
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 35
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh – 28
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 14
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 6
Vice-Admiral Tim Lawrence - 6
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 5
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 1
HRH Princess Beatrice of York – 0
HRH Princess Eugenie of York - 0
HRH The Duchess of Kent - 0
HRH Prince Michael of Kent – 0
HRH Princess Michael of Kent -0
HRH Princess Alexandra - 0

Year to date total - 614 ((up 115)

Days on which official engagements were undertaken to 14th March:

HM The Queen - 22
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh - 16
HRH The Prince of Wales - 37
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 23
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 1
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 4
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 2
HRH The Duke of York - 20
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 19
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 20
HRH The Princess Royal - 38
Commander Tim Lawrence - 5
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 22
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 12
HRH The Duke of Kent - 24

All others to this point - 0

[Spheno]

Originally Posted by Iluvbertie

HRH Princess Alexandra - 0 (0 - no change)

Three months without engagement is quite strange situation for full-time royal I think.

[Iluvbertie]

Alexandra has been cutting back on her engagements since her husband died and this is reflective of that.

How many people do you know aged 76 who are full time workers at all?

It is reasonable to assume that such a minor member of the family (42 in line and will drop further with the births of Kate and Sophie Winkleman's babies later this year) to enjoy a retirement that will be denied her older cousins, Elizabeth.

[Spheno]

thanks
i didn't know that Alexandra decided to cut back on her engagements

[Iluvbertie]

Alexandra, like the rest of the over 70s royals, including The Queen and Philip, has been cutting back her engagements slowing over the last 10 years or so.

Last year she did a bit over 100 but in her heyday she would regularly do over 300, just as the Queen has cut back from over 600 and Philip from over 800 to around 300-350 each.

[Elly C]

Not sure if this is the right thread to post this so please move if needed. After the sad news about the Duke of Kent suffering a mild stroke, over on "the Duke's thread" there has begun a discussion about the age of working Royals in the British Royal Family & how the weight of responsibilities is firmly on Royals aged 60+. One recent comment was that if senior royals want to continue to carry out large number of engagements despite having occasional ill health issues, then that's fine. Well I can agree with this to a point, but I think there are other issues to consider such as an organiser's point of view. One example is the nature of what a can be reasonably asked of a senior royal to do. No one would doubt the stamina of say the Duke of Edinburgh, but clearly there are limited types of activities he and others can be expected to participate in. Yet royal visits need to be "hands on "and interactive if they are to sustain the interest of the public. Also, as minor health problems crop up, engagements have to be cancelled leading to much disappointment amongst invited guests/public. This is a situation which will obviously only get worse. I fully appreciate and admire the determination/dedication of our senior Royals but I do think with these recent instances of illness, the BR family are approaching a critical point which demands a serious rethink about the balance of duties.

[Dman]

I agree, Elly C.

[Iluvbertie]

Duties have been cancelled all the time e.g. last year Sophie had to cancel duties for a couple of days due to illness as did William (1 planned engagement cancelled by him).

I think after the Duke recovers they will ascertain his level of work and reduce accordingly - as they have already done with his sister and The Queen and Philip.

They are always keeping an eye on these things and the royals do take their health seriously and are fully aware of the disappointment when they have to cancel so it that does become an issue they will take the appropriate action.

[Molly2101]

I imagine they do feel bad when they have to cancel an engagement due to illness but people get ill, like you said, and that of course takes precedence. As does your family when Sophie cancelled an engagement to be with Lady Louise when she broke her arm last year.

I don't think the older Royals want to necessarily "retire", but like Alexandra they are perhaps considering "cutting back".

[Spheno]

Iluvbertie, what do you think about such additional statistic? to mark every engagement as
1) done by Head of State/Patron/President of an organization/etc. - a certain person is necessary;
2) done by a colonel-in-chief - a certain person is necessary, but the monarch appoints;
3) done by simply a Royal: smth. on behalf of queen or unveil, for example, new station, bridge, etc. - a certain person is unnecessary.

This statistic will allow to know Royal's interchangeability.

[Iluvbertie]

Originally Posted by Spheno

Iluvbertie, what do you think about such additional statistic? to mark every engagement as
1) done by Head of State/Patron/President of an organization/etc. - a certain person is necessary;
2) done by a colonel-in-chief - a certain person is necessary, but the monarch appoints;
3) done by simply a Royal: smth. on behalf of queen or unveil, for example, new station, bridge, etc. - a certain person is unnecessary.

This statistic will allow to know Royal's interchangeability.

I will think about it but that would be adding an additional set of columns and the spreadsheet is already 119 columns wide and to that would take another 100 or so columns as their would need to be six to nine new columns per person.

I will look into adding them over the Easter weekend and see how manageable it is.

[Iluvbertie]

Weekly update to 21st March

This was a full week for some - Charles and Camilla obviously with their tour to the MIddle East continuing. There were also engagements for William and Kate. Sadly the Duke of Kent wasn't up and about this week due to his stroke.

HM The Queen - 69 (60 - up 9)
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh - 34 (28 - up 6)
HRH The Prince of Wales - 141 (121 - up 20)
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 69 (55 - up 14)
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 5 (1 - up 4)
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 11 (6 - up 5)
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 5 (5 - no change)
HRH The Duke of York - 69 (58 - up 11)
HRH Princess Beatrice of York - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Princess Eugenie of York - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 48 (43 - up 5)
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 43 (37 - up 6)
HRH The Princess Royal - 107 (93 - up 14)
Vice-Admiral Tim Lawrence - 8 (6 - up 2)
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 41 (35 - up 6)
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 16 (14 - up 2)
HRH The Duke of Kent - 52 (52 - no change)
HRH The Duchess of Kent - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Prince Michael of Kent – 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Princess Michael of Kent - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Princess Alexandra - 0 (0 - no change)

Order from most downwards - the 'league table' if you like. I refuse to calculate how people are moving up or down that list. I do move people around who have moved up or down but I am not putting in how many places they are moving - although usually it is only one place in either direction.

HRH The Prince of Wales - 141
HRH The Princess Royal - 107
HM The Queen – 69
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 69
HRH The Duke of York - 69
HRH The Duke of Kent - 52
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 48
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 43
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 41
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh – 34
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 16
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 11
Vice-Admiral Tim Lawrence - 8
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 5
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 5
HRH Princess Beatrice of York – 0
HRH Princess Eugenie of York - 0
HRH The Duchess of Kent - 0
HRH Prince Michael of Kent – 0
HRH Princess Michael of Kent -0
HRH Princess Alexandra - 0

Year to date total - 718 (up 114)

Days on which official engagements were undertaken to 21st March:

HM The Queen - 25
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh - 20
HRH The Prince of Wales - 43
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 29
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 4
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 7
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 2
HRH The Duke of York - 24
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 22
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 22
HRH The Princess Royal - 44
Commander Tim Lawrence - 7
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 25
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 13
HRH The Duke of Kent - 24

All others to this point - 0

[Iluvbertie]

Weekly update to 26th March

I am doing this week's update a day early because of Easter. As the CC for the 28th won't be available to me until next Tuesday when Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be up so I will do the full update then. Next week's update will therefore be an 8 day update.

HM The Queen - 74 (69 - up 5)
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh - 39 (34 - up 5)
HRH The Prince of Wales - 147 (141 - up 6)
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 72 (69 - up 3)
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 5 (5 - no change)
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 12 (11 - up 1)
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 5 (5 - no change)
HRH The Duke of York - 76 (69 - up 7)
HRH Princess Beatrice of York - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Princess Eugenie of York - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 53 (48 - up 5)
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 49 (43 - up 6)
HRH The Princess Royal - 117 (107 - up 10)
Vice-Admiral Tim Lawrence - 8 (8 - no change)
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 47 (41 - up 6)
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 20 (16 - up 4)
HRH The Duke of Kent - 52 (52 - no change)
HRH The Duchess of Kent - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Prince Michael of Kent – 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Princess Michael of Kent - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Princess Alexandra - 0 (0 - no change)

Order from most downwards - the 'league table' if you like. I refuse to calculate how people are moving up or down that list. I do move people around who have moved up or down but I am not putting in how many places they are moving - although usually it is only one place in either direction.

HRH The Prince of Wales - 147
HRH The Princess Royal - 117
HRH The Duke of York - 76
HM The Queen – 74
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 72
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 53
HRH The Duke of Kent - 52
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 49
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 47
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh – 39
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 20
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 12
Vice-Admiral Tim Lawrence - 8
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 5
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 5
HRH Princess Beatrice of York – 0
HRH Princess Eugenie of York - 0
HRH The Duchess of Kent - 0
HRH Prince Michael of Kent – 0
HRH Princess Michael of Kent -0
HRH Princess Alexandra - 0

Year to date total - 776 (up 58)

Days on which official engagements were undertaken to 26th March:

HM The Queen - 27
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh - 23
HRH The Prince of Wales - 46
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 31
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 4
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 8
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 2
HRH The Duke of York - 27
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 25
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 24
HRH The Princess Royal - 48
Commander Tim Lawrence - 7
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 29
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 15
HRH The Duke of Kent - 24

All others to this point - 0

[Iluvbertie]

Weekly update to 4th April

A fairly quiet week due to the four day break from official duties due to the Easter break. The total for the week is up majorly because 15 of the list below attended the reception for the film industry.

A note regarding Andrew. As many people have pointed out or suggested in the British Royal Family Current Events Thread it is fairly obvoius that Andrew was at the Film Industry reception. However as he wasn't listed in the CC he didn't get any credit. I am consistent with this so that even though there appears to be evidence to the contrary I only go by what is in the CC, which is why last year I included an engagement for William that we know he cancelled (about the time of Kate's hospitalisation) but The Queen still had him attending the engagement in the CC so he got a credit.

Sometimes there is an addendum to the CC for a previous day, and as this CC was for Thursday, it might be picked up and addended on Friday or at some other time - if so I will put in the correction but that is up to HM as she approves the CC before it goes out.

HM The Queen - 82 (74 - up 8)
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh - 45 (39 - up 6)
HRH The Prince of Wales - 155 (147 - up 8)
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 72 (72 - no change)
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 8 (5 - up 3)
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 15 (12 - up 3)
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 5 (5 - no change)
HRH The Duke of York - 78 (76 - up 2)
HRH Princess Beatrice of York - 1 (0 - up 1)
HRH Princess Eugenie of York - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 54 (53 - up 1)
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 51 (49 - up 2)
HRH The Princess Royal - 118 (117 - up 1)
Vice-Admiral Tim Lawrence - 9 (8 - up 1)
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 50 (47 - up 3)
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 22 (20 - up 2)
HRH The Duke of Kent - 52 (52 - no change)
HRH The Duchess of Kent - 0 (0 - no change)
HRH Prince Michael of Kent – 1 (0 - up 1)
HRH Princess Michael of Kent - 1 (0 - up 1)
HRH Princess Alexandra - 0 (0 - no change)

Order from most downwards - the 'league table' if you like. I refuse to calculate how people are moving up or down that list. I do move people around who have moved up or down but I am not putting in how many places they are moving - although usually it is only one place in either direction.

HRH The Prince of Wales - 155
HRH The Princess Royal - 118
HM The Queen – 82
HRH The Duke of York - 78
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 72
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 54
HRH The Duke of Kent - 52
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 51
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 50
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh – 45
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 22
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 15
Vice-Admiral Tim Lawrence - 9
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 8
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 5
HRH Princess Beatrice of York – 1
HRH Prince Michael of Kent – 1
HRH Princess Michael of Kent -1
HRH Princess Eugenie of York - 0
HRH The Duchess of Kent - 0
HRH Princess Alexandra - 0

Year to date total - 819 (up 43)

Days on which official engagements were undertaken to 4th April:

HM The Queen - 29
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh - 26
HRH The Prince of Wales - 48
HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - 31
HRH The Duke of Cambridge - 5
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge - 9
HRH Prince Henry of Wales - 2
HRH The Duke of York - 28
HRH Princess Beatrice of York - 1
HRH The Earl of Wessex - 26
HRH The Countess of Wessex - 25
HRH The Princess Royal - 49
Commander Tim Lawrence - 8
HRH The Duke of Gloucester - 32
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester - 17
HRH The Duke of Kent - 24
HRH Prince Michael of Kent - 1
HRH Princess Michael of Kent - 1

Eugenie, Katherine and Alexandra are still to do anything official this year.

[royal-blue]

Perhaps a good solution to easing the burden on the older royals, without the York princesses becoming full time royals just now, would be for the Queen to allow Prince and Princess Michael of Kent to carry out official duties on her behalf. They have been doing so for decades anyway, just without royal funding, and as the Queen now pays for her famly now anyway she could easily change this. They are only in their mid 60 so could take on some of the work of the Queen, DofE and Alexandra who are all much older.