How I Keep Count of Engagements

Contrary to popular belief, there is NO official count released by the Palace and NO official rules on how exactly engagements on the Court Circular (CC) should be counted.

My count will be different than other people's. I do include some things not on the CC, but since I don't "double count" engagements, my count is often lower than others.

How you count an engagement is probably the biggest reason people have different counts. (And that is also why a number of news sites have switched to counting the number of days worked instead.)

Here Are Our Rules For Counting Events:

• If it is listed in the Court Circular, or the Royal Diary, we usually count it as an engagement
• This includes private events the press was not invited to 
• But, not everything in CC is an official engagement. We don't count:
• Births, Birthdays, Weddings, Christenings,  etc.
• Except if they are attending is a Foreign Royal Event
• Arrivals and departures at airports
• Represented at an event by another person
• Information for record
• etc.
• But, we may also include events not on CC, as the CC isn't always up-to-date, accurate or consistent 
• Has this event been included in CC in the past?
• Have there been other similar engagements listed on CC?
• I.e. Signing Book of Condolences
• Was the Royal there in an Official Capacity?
• Was it announced as an engagement?
• Did the Royal's social media post about it?
• etc.
• What we don't count
• Things we don't have a exact date for
• Interviews
• Photocalls, Photoshoots, etc. 
• Filming videos
• Do we count that as one or two engagements?
• Different organizations at different locations = multiple engagements. 
• If there are 2+ organizations working together on a project, or 1 is the charity/ project of the parent organization, then they are usually counted as 1 organization.
• Multiple organizations at 1 location for 1 event = 1 engagement. 
• (I.e. a conference,  forum, etc.)
• 2+ locations with 1 organization in 1 day = 1 engagement
• Same event over multiple days = a separate engagement each day
• If an event happens to go past midnight, we do not count that as two days.

These rules are not hard and fast. If you have any questions about our counts of engagements just ask, I would be happy to clarify or hear your suggestions.

Some Other Reasons People Get Different Counts?

• Some count based on the Court Circular in The Times. Others based on the Court Circular on Royal.UK.
• People include different things from the CC. 
• e.g. Airport arrivals/departures
• Some people include things not in the CC.
• The press release explicitly mentions "Engagement #1," Engagement#2," etc. but the Court Circular summarizes the event. 
• I once saw a press release about the royals attending a war commemoration that listed 5 "engagements." But the Court Circular was only one line.  
• etc.

For example, in CC for August 8th, 2019:

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today held, and competed in, the inaugural King's Cup Regatta, Cowes, and were received by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Isle of Wight (Mrs. Susan Sheldon). 

Their Royal Highnesses afterwards attended the King's Cup Regatta prize-giving ceremony, Cowes.

Some people count this as 2 engagements, Others (like me) will count it as 1. We both are including the same event, but are just counting it differently. So, we get different numbers.