Royal visits
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Background to royal visits
Each year the Queen and other members of the royal family undertake
nearly 3,000 visits to many parts of the United Kingdom. Official
functions often feature prominently in such visits, including
opening new buildings, meeting local dignitaries and visiting
businesses, schools, hospitals and other public buildings as well
as visiting hostels for the homeless, local community schemes,
military units and other organisations.
The Queen and other members of the
royal family have close associations with a wide range of
charitable organisations covering many areas of national life. As
patrons of over 3,200 charities, the royal family visits a large
number of charity organisations and projects each year.
Engagements for the Queen are
carefully selected from a large number of invitations by her
Private Secretaries in conjunction with the
Lord-Lieutenants (the Queen's representatives in
counties throughout the United Kingdom). This makes sure that her
programme is balanced in its geographical spread, and that the
Queen meets the widest range of people in different regions in the
time available to her.
The Private Secretary's Office liaises with the households of other
members of the royal family, to ensure that their official
engagements are co-ordinated. Its aim is to achieve
the most effective pattern of royal visits throughout the
country.
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How to invite a member of the royal family
Charities, organisations and
communities often send invitations to members of the royal family
to visit them for a special event or on an historic occasion.
Invitations to members of the royal family are welcomed, although
not all can be fulfilled owing to the large numbers received.
Around 1,000 invitations to the Queen alone are received each year,
many more than can be practicably accepted. Each invitation,
however, is given careful consideration, and in some cases another
member of the royal family will attend instead.
The programmes of members of the royal
family are planned well in advance, so invitations should be
submitted at least six months ahead of the suggested visit, using
the royal visit form which can be downloaded from the link at the
side of this page.
The best initial point of contact for visits by any member of the
royal family to West Sussex is the Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex.
She is responsible for advising on invitations and for
co-ordinating the programme of any royal visitor.
The Lord Lieutenant will then liaise
with Buckingham Palace, the Private Office of the prospective royal
visitor, and the host organisation.
All invitations to the Queen or other
members of the royal family for future official engagements should
be sent to:
The Lieutenancy Office
County Hall
Chichester
West Sussex
PO19 1RQ
Supporting documents