Royal Family Operations Manual

Robert Jobson is a journalist, author and broadcaster who has reported on the Royal Family since 1991 as correspondent for UK national newspapers, US TV network ABC News and Australia’s breakfast show Sunrise. Robert has written several books on the British royals, including the best-selling ‘Diana: Closely Guarded Secret’, ‘Guarding Diana’ and the recently well-received ‘Charles at Seventy’.

• Chapter one: History, setting the royals in contextThe line of succession: House of Saxe-Coburg and the Stuarts, links to earlier British royal dynasties. The House of Windsor: The story behind name changeRenewing the dynasty: royal weddings, coronations, babies and abdication, brief biogs and portraits of current royals major and minor.Regency: What happens in this situation. Back to the last one – George III (the last American King)Include portraits and biographies of the monarchs and their family, past and present. Illustration: Family tree Chapter Two: Realms and dominionsThe British Empire, and the current extent of influence;The Commonwealth explained. 53 nations up from 52 nations last year. Role in the British constitutionHead of state; legal status and rules of office explained. Role of Queen, what would happen in a constitutional crisis. Extent/limitations of power. Meetings with PMs over the years. Dissolving and opening parliament. Could the monarch ever actually interfere with parliament? Precedents.Royal tours abroad, planning and execution, staff members and responsiblities, negotiating security. Chapter Three: Finance and wealthWho owns what: how it is funded. Who pays for what?Income, assets, wealth, crown dependencies, salaries and expenses. Add tax here?Different revenue streamsCivil List, Sovereign Grant, Duchy of Lancaster, Duchy of Cornwall, Crown estates.Charitable trusts.Royal patents, charters and patents go here? What do they mean, who benefits? Does the Queen really use Andrex toilet paper and spread Tiptree marmalade on her toast? Chapter Four: The Royal Residences (perhaps this is too much on the buildings, and we could combine this chapter with Ch5 Households)Buckingham Palace, number of rooms, which are open to the public, which ones are the inner sanctums, how many staff does it need to keep in running, what is the pecking order, would be great to have details of how many pounds of suger/eggs/dog poo bags/bottles of champagne/etc the household gets through in a year. What are the unbreakable rules? Windsor Castle, favourite residence, place the family have come here to get married – and be buried. The restoration and comeback, post-fire. Who is there when the family isn’t?Balmoral Castle, the Queen’s hideaway. Include Craigowan Lodge where Queen prefers to stay especially when she only has a few people with her. More relaxed here than other palaces? What’s the daily routine?Birkhall – Charles and Camilla inherit it from the Queen Mother and base themselves there during the summer (and New Year)Delnadamph Lodge, regional official residences: Holyroodhouse and Hillsborough CastleThe private homes: Sandringham, Clarence House, Highgrove, Kensington Palace, St James’s Palace. Anmer Hall for William and Kate. Who is in charge of running these residences, who owns them, do they pay council tax?!And there’s a new residence – Frogmore Cottage for Harry and MeghanBox out on the Tower of London, still officially a royal residence. Chapter Five: The Royal Households The offices and the people who work in them. Explaining some of the unusual names and titles, including the most minor as well as the most important. Are there factions and feuds between the households?The Royal Household, Household of Prince of Wales, Household of Duke and Duchess and Cambridge and Duke and Duchess of Sussex.Buckingham Palace for the Queen and her children, except Charles.St. James’s Palace/Clarence House – for Charles and Camilla Kensington Palace for William and Harry and their families. Chapter Six: Royal Transport Cars currently owned and what they are used for. Inside the Royal Mews. Planes and trainsInside the Royal Train, Flights through British Airways or the military Royal Squadron.The Royal Yacht Britannia (out of commission). Inside the Royal Yacht.Carriages. One spreadState carriages like those used for the opening of Parliament to those used recently at the weddings of William and Kate and Harry and Meghan. Chapter Seven: Leisure, pastimes and Pets Dogs and horses: life hasn’t changed much since King George VI’s day. Dogs are centre stage. Corgis, list them from Susan (Elizabeth’s first) and how she actually has a lot of Labradors too! Are there dog-related servants? Royal dog walker?Sports: horse racing – Sandringham stud, Earl ‘Porchie” Carnarvon, dressage (Olympian Zara Phillips follows her parents), polo (Philip, Charles, William and Harry), carriage driving.(Philip)The arts: Royal Variety Performance, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Opera House, Royal Ballet, Royal College of Art, are they all just titles? Charities: The Prince’s Trust, the Royal Foundation, Help for Heroes, Heads Together.The royals and fashion; from Margaret in Dior, to the Queen in Hardy Amies and more conventional wear, to Diana and Meghan and Kate and how they use fashion to send signals, support British (and Commonwealth) designers and make covert political statements; has the Queen worn pro EU hats, and anti Trump brooches?Sidebar on the men: Charles and his love for Saville Row, and make-do-and-mend his clothes (he patches them); and William choosing new Saville Row tailors like Spencer HartThe jewellery from hand-me-downs to the new fashions. Chapter Eight: State Occasions and Official engagementsEvents and annual occasions sponsored, hosted or attended by royal members. How they are run and who does what. How are invitation lists drawn up, who decides on seating plans, what are the absolute must not do rules (Trump walking ahead of QE, Michelle Obama hugging her). How are guests briefed on arrival?Buckingham Palace garden parties, investitures, State Opening of Parliament, Trooping the Colour, Changing the guard, Remembrance Day, Swan UppingRoyal Ascot, State Banquets. Head of the British Armed Forces. Other links with the armed forces:Household guards, security and military units. Individual military records of members of the royal family. Household Cavalry, Life Guards, the. Blues and Royals, Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards.The Crown Jewels, significance, history, symbolism explained. Worth. Security arrangements. Insurance. Chapter Ten: Royals in Church: Weddings, Baptisms and FuneralsQueen as head of the Church of England. Brief history explains why. What does the role mean? Is it anachronistic or is there still some purpose? Church every Sunday. Are there chapels and employed clergy in the households? The weddings are the upbeat focal point of the monarchy, but the funerals signal the end of an era and often the beginning of a new one. Recent weddings and surge in support for a new generation of young royals.The different funerals of recent history. A look ahead to what the next ones might be like. Diana’s caught everyone by surprise. Queen Mother’s was the last v. formal one with her lying in state, or the equivalent, at Westminster. A hint towards the future ones. The baptism traditions – the same font, water from the River Jordan and the replica Christening gown. Music and liturgy. Afterword: Royal family of the futurePrincess Diana’s lasting legacy and the changing face of royals, Meghan’s impact. How it might change further. The Commonwealth in the 21st century.