Royal Novelist Adventures - Part 1

Can you spot the book for our June Book Review?

In my writing this past week, I have been doing a lot of cutting, rewriting, and rearranging as I'm dealing with issues with plot and the overall narrative of my story. The plot is still something I struggle with, and at times it makes me want to curl up into a ball, cry and throw the whole thing in the trash. Nevertheless, I persist.

I thought I would share with you some techniques I have for rearranging and rewriting. There are 4 basic things I use: Carets, Arrows, Letters, Numbers.

Here an early draft of my piece for our May Writing Prompt, which was inspired by Prince Harry & Meghan Markle's Wedding (AKA the new Duke & Duchess of Sussex).  You can see me using each of the 4 techniques, and I explain more about them below.

Carets ^

Carets (pronounced like "carrots") are little proofreading marks ^ used to indicate something should be added here. There are some technical rules about when they should be placed above or below the line, but I just put them where I have room.

As you can see in the example if I'm crossing something out and inserting a word or phrase, I often leave out the caret mark ^ as it is obvious the word or phrase is replacing what was crossed out.

Arrows  -->

I like to use arrows to move thing around on the same page. I either circle the part I want to move, or enclose it in parentheses, and draw an arrow to when it belongs. When two arrows go to the same place, the high one goes first.

Letters (A),(B),(C), etc.

Letters function a lot of arrows, they help me move things around. But I use letters when I have to move things to different pages. I circle the part I want to move and give it a letter. I then put the same letter in the place I want to move that text to. If I'm moving things to and from a different chapter, I usually include a little note with the letter.

Numbers (1),(2),(3), etc.

Numbers are used a lot like letters, but I use them when I'm including something new that is written on some spare paper, or the back of the page.

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Coat of Arms - Royal Research

Photo Credit: Scott D Welch

A coat of arms is a very important thing for a royal. It is used as a means of identification. It is used for the royal for a lot of official things, & they can also allow other organizations to use their coat of arms (e.g. Royal Warrant Holders). (Non-royals, cities, countries, universities, etc. can also have their own coat of arms.)

Coats of arms were originally quite simple in design. They grew more complex over the generations, especially when two or more coats of arms were joined (impaled) to form a new coat.

Technically, the term "coat of arms" refers to just the shield. But today it is used more widely to refer to the whole "Heraldic Achievement" (i.e. shield, motto, supporters, etc.)

Rules about coats of arms vary from country to country, but most countries agree that each coat of arms must be unique. This has lead to a number of court cases over the use of a particular design.

As a result, coats of arms are very specific and precise things. The part that is actually protected is the "Blazon," the formal description of the arms. The blazon uses a lot of special terms to precisely describe the coat of arms. How you depict the blazon is up to an artist. The blazon may say there is a lion, but you can choose how to draw that lion. (Although, there is often a note about the "attitude" or position of animals on a coat of arms.)

Resources: 

• International Heraldry (Website) - They have descriptions of all of the terms & rules related to a Coat of Arms (Tincture [colors], Divisions of the Field, Ordinaries, etc.)
• Royal College of Arms - They are the official heraldic authority for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and much of the British Commonwealth. 
• Court of the Lord Lyon -  They are the official heraldic authority for Scotland. 
• Hoge Raad van Adel (High Council of the Nobility) - Netherlands' High Council of the Nobility grants personal arms (to nobles only) and official, military, and municipal arms
• Website in Dutch

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Tiaras - Royal Research

Photo Credit: Kungahuset.se, Mattias Edwall  

Tiaras... Do I really need to say more! They are one of the most iconic parts of Royalty. (Although Tiaras are not exclusively worn by royals.)

Resources

• Order of Splendor (Blog) - They have a lot of great information on all of the Tiaras, and some other jewelry. They also have some guides on Tiara terminology, how to attach the Tiara to your hair, Tiara rules & who really owns them, etc. 
• Royal Tiaras (Blog) - They have a great search method where you can find Tiaras by the wearer, Royal family, metal, jewel, type, etc. And they list all the appearances of that Tiara, who wore it, for what occasion. They, however, don't go into a lot of details about the Tiaras instead they often link to Order of Splendor for their posts on the Tiaras. 

Royal Warrant Holders

• G. Collins and Sons (London, UK) - Jewellery firm
• Royal Warrant from the Queen for "Jewellers"
• They maintain all of the Crown Jewels
• Garrard (London, UK) - Jewellery & Silver designer and manufacturer  
• Royal Warrant from Prince Charles for "Jewellers, Goldsmiths, and Silversmiths"
• Cartier (London, UK) - Jewellery & Watch firm
• Royal Warrant from Prince Charles for "Jewellers and Goldsmiths"
• Wartski (London, UK) - They are art and antique dealers, specializing in fine jewelry. 
• Royal Warrant from the Queen & Prince Charles for "Jewellers"
• Bentley & Skinner (London, UK) - They are art and antique dealers, specializing in fine jewelry. 
• Royal Warrant from the Queen & Prince Charles for "Jewellers and Silversmiths"

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Hats - Royal Research

Photo Credit: Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken (CC BY-SA 2.0)

While hats are no longer required for day to day life like they were a century ago, they remain a very important part of Royal life. And are often required as part of the dress code for certain official royal events.

Each royal has their different preference when it comes to hat style and designer. But most Working Royals choose bold, colorful hats as a way of helping them be seen, especially in a crowd.

As Queen Elizabeth II once said, "I have to be seen to be believed."

Resources:

• Royal Hats (Blog) - They are an expert on millinery and cover hats worn by royals at events. They also have some guides on hat terminology, design features, interviews with milliners, etc.

Some Royal Milliners:

• James Lock & Co (London, UK)
• Royal Warrant from Prince Philip & Prince Charles
• World's oldest hat shops
• Patey Hats (London, UK)
• Royal Warrant from The Queen
• Specializing in ceremonial hats, top hats, riding hats and military headwear
• Rachel Trevor-Morgan (London, UK)
• Royal Warrant from the Queen
• Fabienne Delvigne (Brussels, Belgium)
• "Purveyor to the Court of Belgium" from King Albert & King Philippe
• Jane Taylor Milliner (London, UK)
• Philip Treacy (London, UK)

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Royal Wedding - May 2018 Writing Prompt

Photo Credit: UK in Italy (CC BY 2.0)

Each month, we will be sharing a Royal Themed writing prompt to get you all writing. We, of course, had to go with Prince Harry's royal wedding to Ms Meghan Markle for our first writing prompt. Wasn't it inspirational!

Our May Writing Prompt:

Write a scene from the perspective of a guest at Prince Harry & Meghan Markle’s wedding. Incorporate as many real-life details from the wedding day as you can. (1-5 Pages)

Things to include:

• Why your character was invited (family, friend, charity work, etc.)
• What your character wore
• How they felt about being filmed & photographed 
• Their interactions with other guests

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List of Royal Warrent Holders / Purveyors to the Court

Royal Warrant signs for The Queen Mum, Prince Charles & The Queen
Photo Credit: Colin Smith / Royal Appointment Signs, Ballater. (1994)

If you're like me, you often want to put a touch of authenticity in your writing and make it vivid with lots of description and images. I think getting a sense of what products the royal use helps with that. So when researching things, I often try to look at Royal Warrant Holders.

A Royal Warrant (or the title "Purveyor to the Court") is given to a business to recognize them as someone who provides goods or services to the Royal Household. The business is then allowed to display the Royal coat of arms (or crown) and advertise that they have Royal Customers.

UK

Photo Credit: By Oxiq [CC0], from Wikimedia Commons

Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip (Duke of Edinburgh) & Prince Charles (Prince of Wales) gives out Royal Warrants to businesses that have supplied them (or their household/office) with goods or services for at least 5 out of the last 7 years.

The Warrant holders are then allowed to say "By Appointment to" and display the Royal coat of arms on their products, stationery, advertisements, etc.

Full list of Royal Warrant Holders: 
https://www.royalwarrant.org

Belgium

"Warrant Holder of the Court of Belgium" (Gebrevetteerd Hofleverancier van België/Fournisseur breveté de la Cour de Belgique) is a title given out by King Philippe & Queen Mathilde to businesses that have supplied them (or their household/office) with goods or services for at least 5 years.

List of Royal Warrant holders: (Updated every November)
http://www.dghb.be/en

Royal Warrant holder Rules: 
http://www.dghb.be/en/rules.php

Photo Credit: By Oxiq [CC0], from Wikimedia Commons

Denmark

Royal Warrants are given out by the Queen to businesses that have serviced the Royal House for 10-15 years and are well-established, economically solid and of good public reputation. 

The Royal Warrant is granted to a single person in a company, opposed to the company as a whole. The businesses are granted the title "Purveyor to Her Majesty The Queen." (Untill 2008, there was also the title "Purveyor to the Royal Danish Court," which was given to larger companies supplying the Royal Household. ) 

New Royal Warrants are granted on the Queen's Birthday. 

List of Royal Warrant Holders: 
http://www.hoflev.dk/en/index.asp?

Netherland Purveyor to the Court Sign
Photo Credit: Suedwester93
[Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

Netherlands 

The title "Purveyor to the Court" (Hofleverancier) is given out to businesses that have been in business for 100 years and have a good track record, And it is 0nly to small or medium-sized companies. 

The companies are not required to supply the court to receive this title.

List of Royal Warrant Holders:
https://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/documenten/publicaties/2018/05/08/predicaat-hofleverancier-overzicht-organisaties-2018

Spain

The Spain Royal Family no longer gives out the title "Purveyor of the Royal House" (Proveedor de la Casa Real). 

Sweden 

Photo Credit: Holger.Ellgaard
[CC BY-SA 3.0 ], via Wikimedia Common

Royal Warrants are given out by the King and Queen for regular service to the Royal Court. The warrant is usually given to the managing director of the company, not the company itself. 

List of Royal Warrant Holders:
http://www.hovlev.se

Royal Warrant F.A.Q.:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150614174639/http://hovlev.se/faq_e.html

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