Days

The Cambridge Pocket Diary notes certain days as being feast days or as anniversaries of members of the Royal Family.

Major feast days are shown in small capitals, minor ones in italics and royal anniversaries in plain lettering. Certain of these days (with others) are the days designated collar days by the Sovereign; another group constitutes the red letter days of the legal calendar.

The lists below indicate which days are noted in The Cambridge Pocket Diary and, by the use of red lettering, which of these are scarlet days. Those which fall on a fixed day of the year are noted first followed, in approximately chronological order, by those (e.g. Easter Sunday) which don’t (but excluding those Sundays which are not scarlet days). Collar days and red letter days are noted in the two remaining columns. Those fixed collar days and red letter days that are not included in The Cambridge Pocket Diary are shown in grey.

October
9th St Denys
17th St Etheldreda
18th St Luke Collar Day Red Letter Day
28th St Simon and St Jude Collar Day Red Letter Day
November
1st All Saints Collar Day Red Letter Day
2nd All Souls
14th Prince of Wales born, 1948 Red Letter Day
20th St Edmund
22nd St Cecilia
25th St Catharine of Alexandria
30th St Andrew Collar Day Red Letter Day
December
1st St Eligius
6th St Nicholas
16th O Sapienta
21st St Thomas Collar Day Red Letter Day
25th Christmas Day Collar Day
26th St Stephen
27th St John the Evangelist
28th Innocents' Day
January
1st Circumcision Collar Day
6th Epiphany Collar Day
25th Conversion of St Paul Red Letter Day
February
2nd Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Candlemas
Collar Day Red Letter Day
4th St Gilbert of Sempringham
6th Queen’s Accession, 1952 Collar Day Red Letter Day
10th St Scholastica
11th St Radegund
14th St Valentine
19th Duke of York born, 1960
24th St Matthias Collar Day Red Letter Day
March
1st St David Collar Day Red Letter Day
6th St Tibb
10th Earl of Wessex born, 1964
17th St Patrick Collar Day
18th St Edward, King and Martyr
21st St Benedict
25th Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or Lady Day Collar Day Red Letter Day
April
4th St Ambrose
21st Queen Elizabeth II born, 1926 Collar Day Red Letter Day
23rd St George Collar Day
25th St Mark Collar Day Red Letter Day
May
1st St Philip and St James Collar Day Red Letter Day
6th St John Evang. ante Portam Latinam
27th The Venerable Bede
29th Restoration of the Royal Family Collar Day
June
2nd Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, 1953 Collar Day Red Letter Day
10th Duke of Edinburgh born, 1921 Red Letter Day
11th St Barnabas Red Letter Day
14th Corpus Christi
17th St Botolph
21st Prince William of Wales born, 1982
24th St John Baptist Collar Day Red Letter Day
29th St Peter Collar Day Red Letter Day
July
15th St Swithin
22nd St Mary Magdalene
25th St James Collar Day Red Letter Day
August
15th Princess Royal born, 1950
24th St Bartholomew Collar Day
28th St Augustine of Hippo
September
15th Prince Henry of Wales born, 1984
21st St Matthew Collar Day
29th St Michael and All Angels Collar Day
Movable
Commemoration of Benefactors
Lord Mayor’s Day Red Letter Day
Shrove Tuesday
Ash Wednesday Red Letter Day
Easter Sunday Collar Day
Monday in Easter Week Collar Day
Tuesday in Easter Week Collar Day
Ascension Day Collar Day Red Letter Day
Whit Sunday Collar Day
Monday in Whitsun Week Collar Day
Tuesday in Whitsun Week Collar Day
Queen’s Official Birthday Red Letter Day
Trinity Sunday Collar Day
Congregations of the Regent House (General Admission)
Congregations of the Regent House (General Admission)
Congregations of the Regent House (General Admission)

Collar Days

Knights Grand Cross (in the generic sense) wear collars of orders of knighthood on “collar days” as listed above and on any other occasion when instructed. In addition, collars are worn when Her Majesty opens or prorogues Parliament, and by those taking part in the ceremony of the introduction of a peer in the House of Lords. They are not worn after sunset, nor when mounted on ceremonial parades such as Trooping the Colour unless instructed otherwise.

Manner Worn:
Collars are worn over the shoulder straps or epaulettes of uniform coats and also over aiguilettes and fasted by white satin bows 1½ inches wide, the collar hanging at equal distance back and front. When the collar (from which the badge is suspended) is worn, the riband with its badge should not be worn.

Multiple Collars:
Though a knight grand cross may possess more than one collar, only one should be worn at a time. The rule about not wearing the riband of an order with the collar of the same order applies equally to possessors of more than one collar. However, they may wear the riband of another order.

Red Letter Days

On red letter days, judges of the High Court (Queen’s Bench Division) wear, at sittings of the Court of Law, their scarlet robes.