Lieutenancy Office

What does the Lieutenancy Office do?

The Lieutenancy Office provides administrative support to the Lord-Lieutenant who is Her Majesty's personal representative in the area.  The Lieutenancy Office coordinates her diary and provides advice on protocol as well as organising royal visits, nominations for royal garden parties, telegrams from the Queen, medal and Queen's awards presentations to name but a few.

How do I contact the Lieutenancy Office?

You can contact the Lieutenancy Office by the following means:

In writing:

Lieutenancy Office
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
County Hall
Cross Street
Beverley
HU17 9BA

By email: sarah.asquith@eastriding.gcsx.gov.uk

Telephone: (01482) 393260

How do I nominate someone for a New Year or Birthday honour?

Honours are given to people from all walks of life and all sections of society who have made a difference to their community. There are several different types of award, each one recognising a different type of contribution.

Honours lists are published twice a year at New Year and in mid-June on the date of The Queen's official birthday. Anyone can receive an award if they reach the required standard of merit or service, and honours lists contain a wide variety of people from different backgrounds. Anyone can nominate someone for an award.

There are two routes by which people enter the system:

• nomination by an individual or a public/private sector organisation familiar with the work of the candidate; and
• submission by a government department that has identified a candidate doing good work within its sphere of interest. (Candidates may be identified as a result of nominations sent to that department from public or private sources.)

Each case may go through several stages before reaching the Honours and Appointments Secretariat of the Cabinet Office.

Nomination forms sent directly to the Nominations team of the Honours and Appointments Secretariat are sifted and checked. Some cases are referred to the relevant government department for them to consider. The remainder are dealt with centrally. Comments and feedback are sought from Lord-Lieutenants, outside bodies and departments which may have an interest in an aspect of the candidate's work. Once the case is ready it is sent to the honours team for consideration.

You can nominate someone for an honour by visiting the the Direct Gov website. The website also offers a full explanation regarding honour nominations.

Honours, awards and medals (external website)

How do I apply for a Queen’s Award for Enterprise?

The Queen's Award for Enterprise are the UK's most prestigious awards for business performance. They recognise and reward outstanding achievement by UK companies. They are presented in three separate categories:

• International Trade – recognising companies that have demonstrated growth in overseas earnings;
• Innovation – recognising companies that have demonstrated commercial success through innovation, products or services; and
• Sustainable Development – recognising companies that have integrated environmental, social economic and management aspects of sustainable development into their business.

The awards are made each year by HM The Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister, who is assisted by an Advisory Committee that includes representatives of Government, industry and commerce and the trade unions.

For further information contact:

The Queen's Award Office 1 Victoria Street London SW1H 0ET

Email: info@queensawards.org.uk

Telephone: 020 7215 6880

The Business Link website offers further information.

Queen's Awards (external website)

How do I apply for a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service?

HM The Queen announced on 30th April 2002 the creation of a new annual award to mark the occasion of her golden jubilee. The award recognises the vital role played by the hundreds of thousands of unsung heroes of the voluntary and community world and emphasises the importance of continuing recognition of their work. The award covers groups operating in the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

The number of awards made each year will be determined by the number and quality of nominations received. Awards are made to groups rather than to individuals. You can nominate a group (two or more persons) for award if:

• it is providing a high quality service to benefit individuals or groups in the community;
• it is operating and providing a service in the UK;
• it has been operating for a minimum of three years (exceptions may be made for short term projects); and
• it is made up entirely of volunteers (including trustees) or it includes some paid staff, but they must be in the minority of those involved.

A group solely involved in fundraising activities for charitable purposes such as street collections, jumble sales or charity shops, are not eligible unless it is also providing a service to the community. Examples of services are concerts, fetes and hospital café facilities. Groups operating outside the UK are not eligible.

You can apply for a Queen's award by visiting the Direct Gov website.

The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (external website)

How do I request a congratulatory message from The Queen for our Wedding anniversary?

The Queen sends messages for diamond (60 years), 65th and platinum (70 years) wedding anniversaries and then every year thereafter.

Her Majesty does not send a message for silver (25 years), ruby (40 years) or golden (50 years) wedding anniversaries.

To receive a congratulatory message from The Queen it is necessary for a good photocopy of the celebrates’ marriage certificate to be sent to the Lieutenancy Office together with the name and full postal address of the couple who will be receiving the telegram.

It is possible to receive a belated congratulatory message up to six months after the wedding anniversary.

You can request a wedding anniversary message from The Queen by completing the wedding anniversary message application form below.

Wedding anniversary message application form (pdf 54kb opens in new window)

How do I request a congratulatory message from The Queen for a 100th birthday?

The Queen sends messages for 100 and 105 birthdays and then every year thereafter.

Notification of birthdays is handled automatically by the Department of Work and who will inform Buckingham Palace accordingly however, the Lieutenancy can also make the arrangements and a good photocopy of the celebrant’s birth certificate can be sent to the Lieutenancy Office together the celebrant’s address.

It is possible to receive a belated congratulatory message up to six months after the birthday.

As it is The Queen’s custom only to send messages to citizens of one of her Realms or UK Overseas Territories, those born or married overseas, or who currently live abroad, must provide evidence of their British nationality. This can be in the form of photocopies of the relevant pages of a currant British passport

You can request a birthday message from The Queen by completing a birthday message application form below.

Birthday message application form (pdf 51kb opens in new window)

The British Monarchy website offers further information regarding congratulatory messages.

Queen and Anniversary Messages (external website)

When are the royal garden parties and what happens at them?

Every summer, The Queen hosts at least three garden parties at Buckingham Palace, as well as one at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh with over 30,000 people attending.

The garden parties generally run from 4.00 p.m. until 6.00 p.m. with the gates being opened from 3.00 p.m.

The national anthem normally announces the arrival of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh who will walk along a roped pathway meeting guests while other members of the family, who are in attendance, will normally walk freely amongst the guests to the royal tea tent.

At approximately 5.50 p.m., the royal party will leave the royal tea tent to proceed back to the palace along a route lined by the Yeoman of the Guard.

Cameras are not permitted but official photographers will be outside the palace gates who will take photographs as a memento of the occasion.

Hats and gloves for ladies are optional (not essentially) and down to personal choice with the majority of men wearing lounge suits and a small percentage of men will wear morning suits.

How do you receive an invitation to a Royal Garden Party?

Each year the Lord-Lieutenant is asked to nominate individuals who may wish to attend a royal garden party at Buckingham Palace. All persons nominated must be British citizens, resident in the United Kingdom and living within the Lieutenancy area of the East Riding of Yorkshire which, for ceremonial purposes, includes the city of Kingston upon Hull.

Those nominated are to be drawn from as wide a range as possible and must not have previously attended one of Her Majesty’s Garden Parties.

If you wish to nominate a member of your local community, please write to the Lieutenancy Office with the name of the person you wish to nominate, their correct and full postal address and state why you feel the individual should be considered.

Nominations are received all year round, but the closing date for nominations in each particular year is 31st January.

The Lord-Lieutenant will consider the request and, if they feel the nomination is suitable, will write to the nominated individual asking if they would like to attend, the name of their guest and on which of the three dates they would like to receive an invitation.

Those nominated on the Lord-Lieutenant list will receive an invitation which will be sent from the Lord Chamberlain’s Office approximately four to six weeks prior to the date chosen.

The British Monarchy website offers further information on royal garden parties.

Royal Garden Parties (external website)

What is a Royal visit?

A royal visit is a special and exciting occasion that takes very careful planning to ensure the day runs smoothly and is successful. Each year The Queen and other members of the royal family carry out approximately 3000 engagements.

Such engagements can include visits to schools, hospitals, factories, military units, art galleries, sheltered accommodation for elderly people, hostels for the homeless, local community schemes in inner city areas, and other British and Commonwealth organisations. They may also attend to open events and buildings, give speeches, unveil plaques and meet people and organisations.

The royal family may visit one region for an entire day and attend a range of venues.

The Lord-Lieutenant coordinates the visit and hosts The Queen or members of the royal family when they visit the East Riding of Yorkshire.

How do I apply for a Royal visit?

There are thousands of requests sent to the royal family each year to ask for a royal visit, and each invitation is given careful consideration.

If you wish to invite a member of the royal family to visit your organisation, please write to the Lord-Lieutenant at the Lieutenancy Office including full details of the event with some background information to allow a decision to be made. The Lord-Lieutenant, if they believe the event would be appropriate for a royal visit, will send an invite direct to the Royal Household for including in their planning meeting.

It is important that invitations are sent as early as possible, with a minimum of six months before the date of the intended royal visit.

The Royal Household responds to all invitations. If they are unable to accept, it is possible that the invitations could be sent to another member of the royal family as suggested by the Lieutenancy Office.

Once a response has been received, the Lord-Lieutenant will contact the organisation with the outcome. Should the invitation be accepted, it is essential the planned royal visit is kept confidential until the programme is finalised by the relevant Royal Household.

The Lieutenancy Office will be able to offer advice and guidance on the planning process to ensure the visit is as success as it can be.

To apply for a royal visit please contact the Lieutenancy Office by one of the following means:

In writing:

Lieutenancy Office

East Riding of Yorkshire Council 

County Hall

Cross Street

Beverley 

HU17 9BA

Email: sarah.asquith@eastriding.gcsx.gov.uk

Telephone: (01482) 393260