Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the

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of the

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. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without hyphenation). There are two kinds of lord-in-waiting: political appointees by the government of the day who serve as junior government

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in the House of Lords (the senior whips have the positions of

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and

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); and non-political appointments by the monarch (who, if they have a seat in the House of Lords, sit as

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). Lords-in-waiting (whether political or non-political) may be called upon periodically to represent the sovereign; for example, one of their number is regularly called upon to greet visiting heads of state on arrival at an airport at the start of a state or official visit, and they may then play a role in accompanying them for the duration of their stay. (For instance, on 3 June 2019 lord-in-waiting Viscount Brookeborough was in attendance at Stansted Airport to welcome U.S. president

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and First Lady

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on behalf of the Queen; he and Viscountess Brookeborough then remained "specially attached" to the Trumps for the duration of their visit.) They are also occasionally in attendance on other state or royal occasions. "Extra" lords-in-waiting may also be appointed, supernumerary to the regular appointees, who fulfil a similar role; for example, the Baroness Rawlings, whose appointment as a government whip (and baroness-in-waiting) ceased in 2012, continued to serve as an extra baroness-in-waiting, and represented the Queen on certain occasions (for example on 27 February 2019 she was present at

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to welcome the King and Queen of Jordan, while at the same time another baroness-in-waiting, Baroness Manzoor, was present at Heathrow Airport to welcome the President of Slovenia). In addition, the honour of serving as a permanent lord-in-waiting is occasionally bestowed on very senior courtiers following their retirement. A permanent lord-in-waiting may also represent the sovereign, as often happens at funerals or memorial services for former courtiers.

Political appointments

Most baronesses and lords-in-waiting serve as government whips in the House of Lords. Being members of the government, they are appointed by the sovereign on the recommendation of the

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and invariably relinquish their position when there is a change of government. Currently, there are four lords and baronesses-in-waiting who serve as junior whips in the House of Lords:

Non-political appointments

Alongside the political appointees two non-political lords-in-waiting are always appointed, at the personal discretion of the sovereign (distinguished from their political counterparts by the designation 'Personal Lord in Waiting'). Those currently serving in this capacity are:

Additional appointments

Any additional appointees are termed extra lords or baronesses-in-waiting. Those currently serving in this capacity are:

Permanent lords-in-waiting

Permanent lords-in-waiting are retired senior officials of the Royal Household. Those serving in this capacity include:Court Circular, Buckingham Palace

References

{{reflist Positions within the British Royal Household *