Until I went looking, I wasn’t sure whether British kings and queens and their families had to participate in censuses or not. It turns out that they do. Just like everyone else, the law obliges them to reveal their location, age and marital status to the state – along with a number of other pieces of information – once every ten years.
The census return completed at Buckingham Palace in April 1911 is a fascinating document, which shines light on a number of previously-unknown aspects of early-twentieth-century royal life, including the identities of most of the Royal Family’s then very large retinue of staff.
King George V and Queen Mary had been on the throne for less than a year on census day, Sunday 2 April 1911.
The return runs to five pages and is reproduced in full below. You may browse it at your leisure, but the things that particularly struck me were:
– the fact that the King and Queen…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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