The Main duties of the Lord-Lieutenant

While it is a matter for each Lord-Lieutenant as to how he carries out his role within the principles identified above, The Queen and Her Government expect certain duties of Lord Lieutenants. These duties may broadly be classified under the following headings:

• to arrange visits of members of the royal family and to escort Royal visitors, as appropriate;
• to present medals and awards on behalf of the Queen e.g. Queen’s commendations for Bravery;  anyone appointed MBE, OBE or CBE is entitled to ask for the insignia to be presented locally by the Lord-Lieutenant, rather than at an investiture at the place;
• to help with the assessment of nominations  for honour, both personal and for the Queen’s award for Enterprise and to encourage good nominations for these three;
• to participate in civic, voluntary and social activity within the Lieutenancy ;
• to liaise with local units of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army, Royal Air Force and their associated cadet forces

100th Birthdays and Wedding Anniversaries

The Queen will send a message of congratulations to a couple celebrating their Diamond Wedding (60th), 65th and 70th anniversaries and every year thereafter and to someone on their 100th and 105th birthdays and every year thereafter.  Notification of birthdays is handled automatically by The Department of Work and Pensions (The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland); but wedding anniversaries will be marked only if someone draws the Queen’s  attention to the date.

Lord-Lieutenants may be asked to make such notification themselves or to advise on the procedure for doing so. In such cases they should advise the applicant to write to –
The Anniversaries Officer, Buckingham Palace, London, SW1A 1AA  Tel 020 7930 4832 requesting an application form which will provide them with all the information they need in order to arrange for a message of congratulations to be sent.

Citizenship Ceremonies

Local authorities hold citizenship ceremonies under Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 to mark the individuals’ acquisition of British Citizenship.  As the Queen’s representative, the Lord-Lieutenant should occasionally take part in citizenship ceremonies and his pool of Deputy Lieutenants should be encouraged to participate more frequently. The Lieutenancies’ involvement in these ceremonies is with Home Office and Association encouragement.

The Lord-Lieutenant’s Cadet

The Lord-Lieutenant may appoint a cadet to assist in official duties and events. The post of the Lord-Lieutenant's Cadet is held by a young person from one of the 3 service linked youth movements – Sea Cadets Corps,  Army Cadets Force and Air Training Corps, and usually serves for approximately one year .