Advice on requesting a Royal Visit
It is recommended that requests for visits by members of the Royal Family are made through the Lord-Lieutenant, rather than direct to the offices of Royal Family members.
The Royal Family receives many more requests for visits than they are able to undertake and therefore success cannot be guaranteed.
Background information on the proposed event or organisation should be submitted at the earliest opportunity, along with a brief description of the reason for the request and the time period during which a visit would be appropriate.
When making a request, please bear in mind that for official openings and ceremonial events involving the Royal Family these are easier to manage when projects are complete - for example, half-complete building sites would not be ideal or appropriate.
Each household will hold diary planning meetings when bids received will be considered. These can be held sometimes up to 9 months in advance of the month in which a visit is requested.
No publicity at all should be given to the fact that an invitation has been extended to a Royal visitor.
Even when accepted, an engagement remains entirely confidential until a date is decided by the Royal visitor's private secretary who handles the publicity.
The announcement takes the form of a short factual statement on the Royal Family website.
The Lieutenancy Office will advise on timescales for individual households.
Banner photograph: The Princess Royal chatting to staff at the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven in October 2024. Top left: Prince Charles visiting Tebay Services in April 2022. Top right: King Charles visiting Barrow in September 2025. Above: The Countess of Wessex, now Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, and the Princess Royal, at the Westmorland County Show in September 2021
Photography: Stuart Walker