A magazine reports that a private meeting by the Princess of Wales came to light only through the official record, which is a reminder of what that record is for
The Court Circular: How the Royal Family’s Work Is Recorded
I have a confession that will not endear me to anyone at a dinner party. I read the Court Circular. Every day. With my coffee. It is the official record of royal engagements, published in several newspapers and online, and it is written in a prose style that has not changed since Queen Victoria.
“The King this morning received…” “The Princess Royal, Patron, this afternoon attended…” No adjectives. No opinions. A list of who went where and whom they saw.
It was in the news this week, in a small way. A celebrity magazine’s royal page ran the headline “Princess Kate’s secret engagement revealed as she continues busy schedule,” explaining that the Princess of Wales had held an engagement on Monday which was revealed in the Court Circular, and speculating about what it might mean.
What “Secret” Means Here
The word is doing a lot of work. An engagement listed in an official public record is not secret. It was private in the sense that no press were invited and nothing was announced beforehand. Afterwards, it was written down, as the rules require.
This happens all the time. Members of the family hold meetings with charities, receive briefings, and host visitors without cameras. The Circular records them. Journalists who read it notice. A headline follows.
Where It Comes From
The Court Circular was established in 1803 by George III, who was reportedly irritated by inaccurate newspaper accounts of what the royal family had been doing. He appointed someone to supply an authoritative version. It has appeared ever since.
It is, in other words, one of the oldest press releases in continuous production. It was created to control the narrative. It has ended up as something more useful: a public account of work done.
What It Shows
Because it is a complete list, the Circular is the basis for the annual counts of royal engagements that appear in the newspapers each December. Those tables are how we know which members of the family carry out several hundred duties a year and which rather fewer.
They have limits. A five-minute reception and a full-day visit each count as one. Preparation is not counted at all. But as a rough measure, the Circular is the nearest thing there is to a timesheet.
And it matters because the monarchy’s claim on public support rests partly on service. As a standard account of the institution puts it, the sovereign and the immediate family undertake official, ceremonial, diplomatic and representational duties. The Circular is where that undertaking is logged.
The Princess’s Schedule
The magazine’s reference to a busy schedule is worth a note. The Princess of Wales stepped back from public life for much of 2024 while she was treated for cancer and has returned gradually since. Her programme is watched closely, sometimes too closely. Every appearance is counted and every absence remarked on.
I think some restraint is called for. A person recovering from serious illness is entitled to manage her diary without each private meeting being treated as a clue in a mystery. If she held a meeting on Monday, she held a meeting. The record says so. We will find out what it leads to when there is something to announce.
The Value of Dullness
What I love about the Circular is that it is immune to spin. It does not say an engagement was a triumph. It does not say the crowd was large. It says the Duke of Gloucester opened a building in Northampton, and leaves you to draw your own conclusions about the Duke, the building and Northampton.
In an age when every institution issues statements about its values, there is something bracing about one that simply lists what it did.
What It Leaves Out
The record has gaps. It does not cover private time, which is fair. It does not cover the cost of engagements. It says who was received in audience but not what was said. The weekly meeting between the monarch and the Prime Minister is recorded as having happened and remains entirely confidential.
Campaigners for greater transparency argue that the public should know more, especially about royal lobbying of ministers and the use of public money. They have a point. The Circular tells you that a meeting took place. It will never tell you whether it mattered.
How to Read It
For anyone tempted to take up the habit, a few tips. Read for patterns, not incidents. Notice which patronages come up again and again, because that tells you what a royal cares about. Notice who represents the King at funerals and memorial services, because that tells you about hierarchy. Notice the audiences: ambassadors arriving and leaving, bishops doing homage, officers taking up commands. It is the machinery of the state, ticking.
A Small Defence of the Trade
The headline about a secret engagement made me smile, but I do not blame the magazine. Royal reporting has to make something from very little. The family says almost nothing. The Palace confirms almost nothing. One is left with a line in an official record and the question of what it might mean.
I would only say that the line itself is usually more interesting than the speculation. The Princess had an engagement. It was recorded. The system worked.
And Finally
The formal language of royal announcements has been parodied for as long as it has existed. The London Prat does so in its English satirical news on the Court Circular and UK satirical news about royal diaries. You can find my other pieces on the monarchy on the same site. Bohiney Magazine covers the royals from across the water.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
