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What Is the Court Circular (Which Queen Elizabeth Has to Approve Every Single Day)?

If you’re an avid fan of the royal family, you’ve probably heard the phrase “court circular” on a handful of occasions. And if you’re anything like us, you probably had no idea what the heck it means. Don’t fret—we did some digging to find out what exactly the court circular is and why it is so important that Queen Elizabeth approves it daily.

In short, the court circular is the official record of the previous day's royal engagements (think of it as a documented schedule of every event or engagement that a royal family member attends.) The record is then printed in The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Scotsman as well as online.

Per the official website of the royal fam, the practice was started by King George III in 1803, “after he became frustrated at the inaccurate reporting of Royal events by the national press.” (Seems like not much has changed.) As a result, he appointed a Court Newsman who was in charge of supplying the daily papers and news outlets with accurate information about the family’s movements and events.

Today, the documentation is written by an information officer based in the Private Secretary’s Office at Buckingham Palace. After it is written, a copy must always be sent to and approved by Her Majesty before it is published. Yup—this means every single day.

In addition to the copy reviewed by the queen, another is retained by Buckingham Palace in a special book which is passed to the royal archives at Windsor Castle. Who knew?

Now we understand why this is so important.

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