Weaver - The Court Circular

Media Network

Quaint Link to an Era of Luncheons and Capital Letters

Patrick Wheare

First published September 5 in The Times.

The Court and Social Editor looks at possibly the Strangest Part of Everything the Royal Family does; a Record of Everything the Royal Family does.

Spin-doctors meddle with it at their peril.
THE Court Circular has a quaint charm that links the Royal Family to its past. It is a genuine piece of history. It is factual, precise, even grammatical. Spin-doctors meddle with it at their peril. It is perfectly suited to take the top spot on this newspaper's Court Page, which is itself deliberately pitched slightly behind the rest of The Times in both its style and content.
But to get a real flavour of the Royal Family and a reminder that they are not quite like the rest of us, you need to look back at Court Circulars of at least ten years ago, when Ambassadors were still Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Kissed Hands upon their Appointment, when their wives had the Honour of being received by The Queen, when Lunches were Luncheons and Travel was in the Royal Train or an Aircraft of The Queen's Flight, when Capital Letters counted, and Royal Language was truly Regal.
A quiet, unnoticed, Modernisation of the Circular a few years ago cleared out those phrases but, unsurprisingly, did not bring readers swarming to scan it, or find them remarking on the train how much improved it was now that Retainers in Attendance were no longer listed. At least Gold Stick in Waiting and the Clerk to the Closet survived those changes.
The Circular is now sent by fax. We no longer have to send a motorcyclist to ask for it politely at a side door of Buckingham Palace.
Years ago the advertising cliché was USP - the Unique Selling Point that gave a product its special pulling power. The dear old Court Circular is one of the Royal Family's few Unique Selling Points. There is nothing like it.

The Court Circular is one of the Royal Family's Unique Selling Points. There is nothing like it.
Better therefore to leave it alone and improve those parts of the Royal Family's activities that do need attention; besides, if you want to know how busy the Royal Family is today, the Royal Engagements on the same page as the Court Circular will tell you. The Circular has always been an anachronism; a repetition of what was already known. Modernised and made user-friendly, it would be a waste of space.
In 1886 the Court Newsman was paid £45 a year by the Lord Chamberlain, on behalf of the monarch, to circulate the Circular to various newspapers. George III had invented the job some years earlier because he was fed up with newspapers misreporting the family's activities. Nothing changes.
For the modern equivalent of £45 I'd be delighted to do the job. But only if it were done with All the Old Style.

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This page updated November 14, 1998

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	Spin-doctors meddle with it at their peril.	THE Court Circular has a quaint charm that links the Royal Family to its past. It is a genuine piece of history. It is factual, precise, even grammatical. Spin-doctors meddle with it at their peril. It is perfectly suited to take the top spot on this newspaper's Court Page, which is itself deliberately pitched slightly behind the rest of The Times in both its style and content. But to get a real flavour of the Royal Family and a reminder that they are not quite like the rest of us, you need to look back at Court Circulars of at least ten years ago, when Ambassadors were still Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Kissed Hands upon their Appointment, when their wives had the Honour of being received by The Queen, when Lunches were Luncheons and Travel was in the Royal Train or an Aircraft of The Queen's Flight, when Capital Letters counted, and Royal Language was truly Regal. A quiet, unnoticed, Modernisation of the Circular a few years ago cleared out those phrases but, unsurprisingly, did not bring readers swarming to scan it, or find them remarking on the train how much improved it was now that Retainers in Attendance were no longer listed. At least Gold Stick in Waiting and the Clerk to the Closet survived those changes. The Circular is now sent by fax. We no longer have to send a motorcyclist to ask for it politely at a side door of Buckingham Palace. Years ago the advertising cliché was USP - the Unique Selling Point that gave a product its special pulling power. The dear old Court Circular is one of the Royal Family's few Unique Selling Points. There is nothing like it.
	The Court Circular is one of the Royal Family's Unique Selling Points. There is nothing like it.	Better therefore to leave it alone and improve those parts of the Royal Family's activities that do need attention; besides, if you want to know how busy the Royal Family is today, the Royal Engagements on the same page as the Court Circular will tell you. The Circular has always been an anachronism; a repetition of what was already known. Modernised and made user-friendly, it would be a waste of space. In 1886 the Court Newsman was paid £45 a year by the Lord Chamberlain, on behalf of the monarch, to circulate the Circular to various newspapers. George III had invented the job some years earlier because he was fed up with newspapers misreporting the family's activities. Nothing changes. For the modern equivalent of £45 I'd be delighted to do the job. But only if it were done with All the Old Style.