The Court of St James's serves as the official royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. [1] The court formally receives all ambassadors accredited to the United Kingdom. [1] Likewise, ambassadors representing the United Kingdom are formally accredited from this court.
The Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, known as Master of the Ceremonies before 1920, serves as the liaison between the British monarch and foreign diplomatic missions. The Marshal is stationed permanently at St James's Palace. [2] As of 1886, there were merely six ambassadors in London, while 37 other countries were represented by ministers. (The custom, developed in the 18th century, was that only monarchies sent ambassadors, while others sent ministers; this distinction was abrogated toward the end of the 19th century.) [3] By 2015, the number of foreign missions accredited to the Court of St James's had risen to 175, [4] including 47 high commissions from Commonwealth countries and 128 embassies from non-Commonwealth countries. [4]
Official meetings and receptions related to the court, such as Privy Council meetings or the annual Diplomatic Reception attended by 1,500 guests, typically take place wherever the monarch is in residence—usually at Buckingham Palace. [5]
The Court of St James's derives its name from St James's Palace, hence the possessive 's at the end of the name. This nomenclature is due to St James's Palace being the most senior royal palace, [2] despite Buckingham Palace being the primary metropolitan residence of all British sovereigns since the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. [2] [5] The court's name is sometimes wrongly pronounced as the "Court of St James", excluding the appropriate "iz" pronunciation of the possessive "s" suffix. [6]
Buckingham Palace is a royal residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning.
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. The current monarch is King Charles III, who ascended the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment. The word is also used informally for people who are known, without national appointment, to represent certain professions, activities, and fields of endeavor, such as sales.
The Heads of British diplomatic missions are persons appointed as senior diplomats to individual nations, or international organisations. They are usually appointed as ambassadors, except in member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations where a high commissioner is appointed. The head of mission to an international organisation is usually a permanent representative. For some nations a consul or consul-general is appointed.
St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Although no longer the principal residence of the monarch, it is the ceremonial meeting place of the Accession Council, the office of the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, and the London residence of several members of the royal family.
A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legations were originally the most common form of diplomatic mission, but they fell out of favor after World War II and were upgraded to embassies.
Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings at state dinners, the person to whom diplomatic credentials should be presented, and the title by which the diplomat should be addressed.
The Court Circular is the official record that lists the engagements carried out by the monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms; the royal family; and appointments to their staff and to the court. It is issued by St James's Palace and printed a day in arrears at the back of The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Scotsman newspapers. An archive of the circular since 1997 is provided on the British monarchy's website.
A throne room or throne hall is the room, often rather a hall, in the official residence of the crown, either a palace or a fortified castle, where the throne of a senior figure is set up with elaborate pomp—usually raised, often with steps, and under a canopy, both of which are part of the original notion of the Greek word thronos.
The British Embassy, Washington D.C. is the British sovereign's diplomatic mission to the United States of America, representing the interests of the United Kingdom and British Government. It is located at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. The embassy compound includes the chancery offices, as well as the British Ambassador's residence.
The Embassy of Mexico in London is the diplomatic mission of Mexico in the United Kingdom. Mexico also maintains a building at 8 Halkin Street in Belgravia which serves as the Ambassador’s Official Residence.
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat, generally ranking as an ambassador, in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the diplomatic mission is generally called a high commission.
Holy See–United Kingdom relations are foreign relations between the Holy See and the United Kingdom.
The High Commission of Barbados in London is the diplomatic mission of Barbados in the United Kingdom. Among the initial diplomatic missions to be established by Barbados after the attainment of independence from Britain, the office was initially located at 28 Cockspur Street where it shared a joint mission with Guyana. In the early 1970s the mission relocated to 6 Upper Belgrave Street, London. Barbados' High Commission remained at that location until the mid 1980s when it moved to its present location at the corner of 1 Great Russell Street in London's Bloomsbury neighbourhood.
The British Embassy Pyongyang is the British sovereign's diplomatic mission in Pyongyang, North Korea, that represents the United Kingdom's interests. It is located in the Munsu-dong diplomatic compound, where most of the diplomatic missions to North Korea are located, with the exception of the Russian and Chinese missions.
The Embassy of Belarus in London is the diplomatic mission of Belarus in the United Kingdom. It is situated just south of Kensington Gardens between the Embassy of Azerbaijan and the Embassy of Mongolia.
State and official visits to the United Kingdom are formal visits by the head of state of one country to the United Kingdom, during which the British Sovereign acts as official host of the visitor. It is a royal event that involves all the assets in the Civil Service, the Royal Household and the Household Division. It also involves other members of the Royal family and is centred in London, the national capital. Invitations for state visits are sent by the Royal Household with supervision by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.