Does the U.K. royal family still have an offical jester, and how does one apply

Question:

Does the U.K. royal family still have an offical jester, and how does one apply for the job?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Nigel Roder, also known professionally as Kester the Jester, (born 1967) became the official court jester of England in 2004. He succeeded Muckle John, whose position became redundant when his employer, King Charles I of England, was beheaded in 1649.

Roder was appointed by English Heritage after winning a jesting competition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nigel_roder...

In response...
..."The National Guild of Jesters said there was too little notice for professionals to be able to apply.

"It's a gimmick. It's getting people for cheap," Jonathan the jester, guild member and the official jester for the city of Salisbury, told the BBC's Today programme. "
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engla...

In August 2005 English Heritage (having hurriedly dropped the 'State' from 'State Jester' after Members of Parliament got involved) held another audition which resulted in the appointment of Peterkin the Fool.

Peterkin was a fixture at English Heritage events during the tourist season of 2006. There has been no replacement announced for the 2007 season as of this writing.

To answer your question though, it seems that only the department of English heritage has recognized the function of
"official jester" within Britain. Certainly there has been no recognition from parliament nor the Royal family for that matter,
so the claim that this role has been fulfilled in 2004 after a vacancy of over 350 years seems a bit dubious.

As far as the British people are concerned, the role of "unofficial jester" to the Royal family seems to be a toss up between Sirs' Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger or Elton John.