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The Royal Family

There are different definitions of the Royal Family for different purposes. A very wide definition functions for some purposes, such as the Royal Marriage Act 1772, while for others such as the attribution of the designation His or Her Royal Highness a much narrower definition is adopted. In general usage the present-day reference of the phrase varies, but always tends to include all the descendants of the Queen’s father King George VI as well as her first cousins bearing Royal titles: the Dukes of Kent and Gloucester and their brothers and sisters.

The Monarchy’s Intellectual Property

Apart from Crown copyright and other state rights that vest in the Crown, the Crown’s IP as considered in this issue fall into two broad areas: Marks and symbols All national symbolism is in origin, and much of it remains in law, the Intellectual Property of the Crown. Obvious examples include the Royal coat of arms in all its various forms, the Sovereign’s cypher and the ‘imperial’ crown itself, which between them still function as the principal source of corporate visual identity for the public sector, from passports and pillar boxes to official correspondence and ministerial red boxes. The arms serve as the standard vehicle for displaying favoured commercial status through the Royal Warrant system, while versions of them or associated badges stand for public bodies such as the Royal Mint or the Supreme Court. Even the well known portcullis badge of Parliament is a Royal badge; and so, technically, are the national flags that make up the Union Jack and indeed the Union Jack itself – though proprietorial control of them is very light.

There are other, more specific heraldic elements such as the badges of Prince Charles both as Prince of Wales and as Duke of Cornwall, the arms of the Duchy of Lancaster and the personal cyphers and badges of other members of the Royal Family. The designs for prizes or awards such as the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise derive from Royal emblems and are accordingly treated as protected symbols, while much of the distinctive vocabulary of British medals and decorations – the part that makes them look genuine and officially sanctioned – is straightforward Royal symbolism.

The ‘Royal’ designation and other forms of nomenclature

The immensely valuable ‘Royal’ designation is for the most part used in a public context only with the express permission of the Crown, whether applied to a borough, to a body in receipt of a Royal Charter, or to an organisation with a more informal association with the Crown such as an orchestra, an opera house or a sporting event. By extension, all the specific vehicles by which the Crown bestows favour or recognition can be regarded as within the Crown’s IP. The idea of an honours system or of peerages and knighthoods cannot be regarded as IP, any more than any other idea; but the specific instantiation of the system, and in particular the names allotted to the awards and decorations within it – ranging from the Order of the British Empire and the other orders to particular titles granted – may well be capable of being so interpreted. Even the broader system of Crown appointments, posts and offices dating back centuries could in part be argued to be sufficiently specific to the Crown to embody Crown IP.

By Clive Cheesman, Richmond Herald, College of Arms