Royal Households of the United Kingdom

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Royal Households of the United Kingdom" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (June 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Royal Households of the United Kingdom
The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom as used outside Scotland
The royal coat of arms in Scotland

The Royal Households of the United Kingdom are the collective departments that support members of the British royal family. Many members of the royal family who undertake public duties have separate households. They vary considerably in size, from the large household that supports the sovereign to the household of the Prince and Princess of Wales, with fewer members.

In addition to the royal officials and support staff, the sovereign's own household incorporates representatives of other estates of the realm, including the government, the military, and the church. Government whips, defence chiefs, several clerics, scientists, musicians, poets, and artists hold honorary positions within the Royal Household. In this way, the Royal Household may be seen as having a symbolic, as well as a practical, function: exemplifying the monarchy's close relationship with other parts of the constitution and of national life.