The Twenty-Sixth Council-General

On the Sixteenth of Cerveth, 7551 (30 June 1998), His Grace, The Duke of Minhiriath, Lord Great Steward, issued Writs of Summons to convoke the Council-General on 26 Urui (9 August) in Laurel, Maryland--only the fourth time the Council had been called to the Fourth Administrative Area, now His Grace's Palatine Duchy. The Council-General was to be preceded by a public session of the Accession Council, on the 24th, at the World Science Fiction Convention, and the usual Saturday evening dinner would be replaced by a luncheon served in the council chamber itself. In the event, the weekend seemed almost to have been contrived to try the patience of His Grace, who had, in his earlier capacity as Lord Great Chamberlain, been responsible for planning the logistics of any number of sessions of the Council.

Confusion began when the Convention's program guide announced the Accession Council session for the Thursday evening, 7 August (22 Urui). His Grace the Steward noted the mistake, and a correction was printed, but not distributed so widely as to prevent H.S.M. Tar-Morondil of Rhovanion from arriving at an empty meeting room to renew his standing offer to fill the vacant throne of Gondor and Arnor. When the actual time for the session rolled around on Saturday evening, well-meaning hotel officials had ordered a rearrangement of the furniture, into a less-convenient layout and at the cost of delaying the session. "The helping hand strikes again," His Grace, the Duke of Numenor, Regent, was heard to mutter. The time set being well past, Tar-Morondil, the Steward, the Regent, and the representatives of Esgaroth were about to leave for dinner when a visitor arrived; only after the furniture had been rearranged, flags hung up, and files opened was it established that the gentleman was not present to register a claim on the Crown, but to check on the hotel's arrangements on behalf of the convention committee. He was, however, sufficently impressed by the proceedings to take the Oath of Recognition on the spot. The Accession Councillors and Tar-Morondil hurried off for a quick dinner before the convention's evening program.

On Sunday, the Steward, the Regent, and Her Grace, the Duchess of Belfalas, Lady President, travelled together to the designated site of the Council-General, planning to arrive early in case of last-minute emergencies. The building in question had two floors, the upper one, prominently signposted, at street level at the front of the building, the lower one (including the meeting rooms), unlabeled, at the level of the parking lot behind the building. While the Steward went to the front of the building to have the room opened, the other two peers waited outside the downstairs door, where they were reportedly startled by the appearance of an employee from inside the building. "What are you doing here?" she is said to have demanded of the Regent, bemedalled in his summer dress whites. "Well," Her Grace began irenically, "We were supposed to have a meeting at two o'clock..." "That's been cancelled," the woman replied. "But, but, we're the ones who called the meeting," sputtered the Regent. Just then, the Steward returned, and the staff person turned to him: "Didn't you get the message I left on your machine? The health department closed down our meeting rooms. You'll have to go someplace else." With that she closed the door, and left the three great officers to plan for an alternative Council. Her Grace offered her home, a proposal the Steward accepted with alacrity.

A further comedy of errors ensued as the three peers went shopping for luncheon foods, missing only by moments the delegates from Esgaroth, who were also sent away by the site staff, without realizing that the notice posted on the unlabelled lower-level door was meant for them. After much telephoning and driving across substantial chunks of southern Maryland, the various parties, joined by Her Grace's husband the Marquess of Lamedon, sat down to a well-deserved meal in the Lamedon-Belfalas dining room.

With luncheon completed, then, a Council-General somewhat reduced in numbers was called to order by The M.N. the Duchess of Belfalas, Lady President. When The M. N. the Duke of Númenor, Regent (and formerly one of His August Majestie's Kings of Arms), had read the Writs of Summons , those in attendance were Their Graces of Númenor, Minhiriath, and Belfalas, and Their Excellencies Parmadil and Adanedhel, the Delegates from the Commonwealth of Esagaroth. The M. N. the Duke of Anorien, Earl Marshal; The M. Hon. The Marquess of Minas Tirith, Lord High Chancellor; The Rt. Hon. the Viscount Erelas, Lord High Treasurer; The Rt. Hon. the Viscount Mering; The Rt. Hon. the Baron Glanduin, Captain of Ships, and Lady Glanduin, Lady Chief Justice; and Capt. Jefferson Mills, Representative of the Palatine Duchy of Númenor, had all, in accordance with the terms of the writ, given notice of their inability to attend, as had His Excellency the Lord Elrond, High Commissioner of the Forodrim.

His Grace the Lord Great Steward, in impromptu remarks on the preceding year, drew attention to the questions actually put by the Accession Council in considering claimants to the Throne, and asked the Council's advice about what might be added to or taken away from the existing forms. His Grace the Regent rose to point out that the Council's practice of searching for claimants grew out of a rubric in "The Form and Manner of Conducting a Council-General," as set forth by His Grace the Earl Marshal, and lacked any statutory authority. After further discussion, the Council passed The Accession Council Act of 7551, amending the Regency Act of 7527.

His Grace the Regent gave a report on the year's diplomatic developments. After thoughtful debate, the Council advised His Grace not to pursue diplomatic contacts with what His Grace had termed "web-states," new nations whose existence seems to be wholly, or largely, confined to the World-Wide Web. The Council debated at some length His Grace's proposed "Visiting Sovereigns' Limitation Act," which would have had the effect of ending, Until the King Return, the Council's custom of inviting foreign heads of state to attend its sessions. After various proposed amendments, the Council finally agreed to lay the question on the table until the Council-General of 7553, when the Foreign Office is to report a more narrowly focused bill.

His Grace also proposed that H.A.M. Secretary of State, the Rt. Hon., the Baron Hunnewell-of-Tuckborough, be raised to the degree of Viscount, in recognition of his years of service in that ministry. The proposal was unanimously agreed to by Their Graces, Their Excellencies abstaining on the grounds that new peerages are strictly internal to the Kingdoms and not subject to comment by the Commonwealth. The Secretary of State has chosen the title of Viscount Tookland.

For the second year in a row, the Council failed to excuse those peers who were not actually in attendance; leaving the clock ticking toward rustication of the peerage titles involved for non-user. It seems likely, however, that the lack of a motion was a mere oversight and will be remedied by some future council.

Without the usual break for refreshments, the Council continued to elections. The Elder of Esgaroth reported that the Accession Council had found no viable claimant to the Throne, and recommended that the Regent continue in office. His Grace the Steward gave notice of his intention to summon the Council-General in Norui of 7553, at the same time as Twenty-fifth Harvard College Reunion of many members of the peerage. Her Grace was reelected to be Lady President without objection, and, in accordance with plans made at the 25th Council-General, The Hon. Sir William Mendelsohn, Bart., was chosen Lord High Chancellor. (The next day, The M. N. the Duke of Anorien, Earl Marshal, used his palatine authority to create Sir William Baron Dunharrow of Littleton.) Having renewed her oath, the Lady President declared the Council closed, and called the Privy Council into session. She then presided, in a musical capacity, at her antique harmonium, as the traditional Patriotic Air was sung.