Royal & Diplomatic Protocol Essentials

Classify any protocol instruction by the kind of authority behind it, identify who owns that authority, and verify rather than assume before acting.

1. 1.1Lesson 1.1 — Rule, practice, convention, custom, courtesy: a working taxonomy
2. 1.2Lesson 1.2 — Who owns the rule? Locating authority rather than asserting it
3. 1.3Lesson 1.3 — The verification reflex, and behaving well while uncertain

Explain what precedence is and is not, identify who owns the order governing a given occasion, and handle precedence conflicts without inventing an order.

1. 2.1Lesson 2.1 — What precedence is, and the four things it is not
2. 2.2Lesson 2.2 — Where the governing order comes from, and how to obtain it
3. 2.3Lesson 2.3 — Conflict, guests of honour and the limits of your discretion

Establish, use and correct the address of an office-holder or guest through verified enquiry rather than assumption, in speech, in writing and in introduction.

1. 3.1Lesson 3.1 — The structure of address: three surfaces, one enquiry
2. 3.2Lesson 3.2 — Office, honour and personal name are not the same thing
3. 3.3Lesson 3.3 — Uncertainty, error and recovery in front of people

Plan and execute the receipt of a visiting party, and conduct oneself as a visitor, in a way that is proportionate, verified and free of improvised authority.

1. 4.1Lesson 4.1 — The arrival: thresholds, escorts and the receiving line
2. 4.2Lesson 4.2 — The official visit: programme, timing and the accompanying party
3. 4.3Lesson 4.3 — Being received: the discipline of the guest

Plan the sequence, seating and running order of a formal occasion, and adapt it under pressure, without asserting ceremonial requirements the institution does not hold.

1. 5.1Lesson 5.1 — Sequence as meaning: entry, announcement and order of movement
2. 5.2Lesson 5.2 — Seating: constraints, plans and the things a plan must survive
3. 5.3Lesson 5.3 — The occasion under pressure: contingency, timing and the quiet correction

Handle national and institutional symbols with the correct reflex — treat every symbol question as owned elsewhere, verify against the owning authority, and never improvise.

1. 6.1Lesson 6.1 — Why symbols are a distinct class of risk
2. 6.2Lesson 6.2 — The verification procedure for symbol questions
3. 6.3Lesson 6.3 — Naming honours, describing office, and the written record of symbols

Produce the written instruments of a formal occasion — invitation, correspondence, briefing and record — to a standard that is accurate, proportionate and reproducible.

1. 7.1Lesson 7.1 — The invitation as an instrument
2. 7.2Lesson 7.2 — Correspondence: requests, refusals, apologies and thanks
3. 7.3Lesson 7.3 — Briefings and the institutional record

Exercise disciplined professional judgment in protocol work — recognise the limits of one's authority, escalate correctly, handle conflict and error, and sustain a defensible standard of conduct.

1. 8.1Lesson 8.1 — Knowing the limits of your authority
2. 8.2Lesson 8.2 — Conflict, error and the quiet correction
3. 8.3Lesson 8.3 — Sustaining the standard: preparation, discretion and continuing verification