"surprise..."

So yesterday, I sitting, checking Facebook, minding my own business, when I get a chat message.
"Congrats on the QOC!"
As I am a well spoken individual with excellent writing skills, I respond "Bwuh?"
My friend directed me to the Court report from an East Kingdom event called Black Rose Ball, held on the 8th of March. In the Court report, sure enough, there it was... "Her Majesty caused Olafr inn orvi Haraldsson to be recognized with the Queen’s Order of Courtesy, the which deed was memorialized in a document created by Sunniva Ormstung."

The Queen's Order of Courtesy is an award "presented by the consort to those who show exemplary courtesy to all ".


Huh. "That has to be a typo." The post is technically an "unofficial" court report... so this could be a possibility. I decide to check into it. I eventually found out from Kenrick that yes indeed, it was me!


Turns out, there was a bit of a mixup... apparently it was supposed to happen at an earlier date. Something happened, and it didn't... Kenrick read it into the record at last year's Black Rose Ball, but the Court report had never been published... so the mistake was corrected this year. I am amazed and humbled... this was not an award I had any expectation of getting.

This experience has brought one thing into sharp focus for me... the importance that the pageantry and theater plays in our game. I was given this award... obviously... it was right there in black and white. However, it didn't seem real... still kind of doesn't... because there wasn't that experience of Court involved. When you are called in front of the Crown, in front of the assembled populace of the Kingdom, there is a gravity and weight to the proceedings that is palpable. Your brain knows that yeah, this is all make believe... but it is also very real, because we make it real.
 I am very humbled by this, and will do my best to live up to what I feel someone who bears the token of a white glove should be.
It does make me hope though, that anybody receiving their first award gets it in Court, with all ceremony and gravitas. I will try and arrange for people who are to receive awards to make it to Royal Progress events so they can be recognized, and also for newer folks to get to the same events, so they can see what Court is about and know what to expect if they are called up.
Thank you to Their Majesties (though Edward is not on Facebook) for read ing the award into their Court at Black Rose. Also, a big thank you to Sir Kenrick, for apparently going out of his way to make sure this got into the official record. I am lucky to have friends such as this.