Letter of Credence

The Letter of Credence is the formal document that recommends an Ambassador of a state to the Emperor of the Imperium or other Head of Government.

Presentation of Dignitaries within the Imperium

When foreign diplomats (and some internal ones) arrive at Capital, they are required to present their credentials to the Emperor as soon as is reasonable. This is usually done at an Imperial Audience on the next business day after their arrival. The diplomat is brought before the Emperor by the Minister of State, who presents the diplomat to the Emperor. The diplomat then reads from his letter of credence, a formal request from the diplomat’s head of government asking in highly formal diplomatic language that the Emperor receive him as an accredited representative. After the reading, the Minister of State takes the letter and hands it to the Emperor, who examines it and formally recognizes the diplomat’s credentials by endorsing them and affixing an official seal. The Emperor makes a short speech welcoming the diplomat to the Imperium and the letter of credence is taken away to be filed away with all the others received over the years. The Emperor then affixes the seal to an Imperial Proclamation of Welcome, and the presentation is concluded.

References

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Loren Wiseman. Nobles (Steve Jackson Games, 2004), 53.
• BackworldTraveller