Counsellor of State

History

The first counsellors of state were appointed by George V under the royal prerogative in 1911 when he traveled to India for the Delhi Durbar, and they continued to be appointed under the prerogative for the rest of his reign. At first, senior politicians such as the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor could serve as counsellors of state, but later counsellors of state were exclusively members of the Royal Family. The Regency Act 1937 (1 Edw. 8 & 1 Geo. 6. c. 16) ultimately placed the appointment of counsellors of state on a statutory footing and codified the practice of restricting the role to senior members of the Royal Family.

Since the passage of the Regency Act 1937, the only persons to have been counsellors of state while not a queen consort, prince, or princess were George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (although Windsor had been a prince between 1914 and 1917 and never served in practice during his short tenure), and Maud Carnegie, Countess of Southesk (who was entitled to but did not use the style of princess). Prior to that, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord President of the Council, the prime minister, and the Archbishop of Canterbury had been appointed to the position by George V.

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother lost her eligibility to be a counsellor of state in 1952 upon the death of her husband, King George VI, until section 3 of the Regency Act 1953 restored her position. The provision was specific to her, rather than applying to dowagers generally.

In September 2022, The Daily Telegraph reported that King Charles III wanted the law to be amended to allow only working members of the royal family to serve as counsellors of state. This would take away the eligibility of family members who did not carry out official functions, while creating a possibility for spouses to senior ranking members and those with a lower position in the line of succession to be called upon and fulfil the role.

Questions were raised in the House of Lords in October 2022 by Lord Stansgate about the "suitability" of the Duke of York and Duke of Sussex being counsellors of state when the former had "left public life" and the latter had "left the country". It was subsequently reported that, instead of removing them from the list of counsellors of state, it was being proposed that the pool of counsellors be expanded in order to create a more flexible list of available royals to stand in for the King if needed. On 14 November 2022, the King sent a message to both Houses of Parliament, formally asking for a change in the law that would allow Princess Anne and Prince Edward to be added to the list of counsellors of state. The next day, a bill to that end was introduced in Parliament and it received royal assent on 6 December, coming into force on 7 December as the Counsellors of State Act 2022.

List of current counsellors of state

, those eligible to be appointed counsellors of state to King Charles III are:

Of these seven, Andrew, Prince Harry, and Princess Beatrice do not perform royal duties. If Prince Harry ceases to be domiciled in the United Kingdom, he shall become ineligible to be a counsellor of state.

Andrew remains eligible to serve in this role, though he has withdrawn from most royal activities; this was provoked by a backlash due to the allegations of sexual abuse made against him. In practice, only members of the royal family that perform public duties on behalf of the monarch would be appointed as counsellors of state, thus eliminating the possibility of Harry, Andrew or Beatrice serving in this role.

Should any of the above, other than Camilla, Edward or Anne, become ineligible or unable to serve, the next person eligible would be Princess Eugenie. Prince George is to automatically become a counsellor of state on his 21st birthday on 22 July 2034, and would replace Princess Beatrice (or his 18th birthday should he be the heir apparent at that time, and would replace Princess Eugenie).

List of former counsellors of state

The following is a list of all the people who have been eligible to be a counsellor of state, listed in chronological order. A † indicates Counsellors who died whilst eligible:

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Charles III (8 September 2022 – present)

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Timeline

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1. lines marking succession of a new monarch at:11/12/1936 at:06/02/1952 at:08/09/2022

2. lines separating branches of the family

3. descendants and predecessors of Charles III from:11/12/1936 till: atpos:389 width:0.1

4. descendents of Elizabeth II

5. from:11/12/1936 till: atpos:313 width:0.1

6. descendents of George VI from:11/12/1936 till: atpos:294 width:0.1

7. descendents of George V from:11/12/1936 till: atpos:140 width:0.1

8. descendents of Edward VII

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References

Bibliography

• Velde, François R. (2004). Regency Acts 1937 to 1953. Retrieved 2005.

References

1. [[Regency Act 1937]], s 6(1).
2. "Counsellors of State".
3. (7 January 2016). "Counsellors of State".
4. ''London Gazette'' [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/46205/ no. 46205], 8 February 1974, pp. 1851–1852
5. [[Regency Act 1937]], s 6.
6. Prescott, Craig. (21 January 2020). "Harry and Meghan, Regency, Counsellors of State and a "Slimmed Down" Royal Family". UK Constitutional Law Association.
7. [[Regency Act 1937]], s 6(2) and 3(2).
8. Velde, François. (29 April 2007). "Regency Acts 1937 to 1953".
9. Section 6(4).
10. Prescott, Craig. (November 24, 2022). "The Counsellors of State Bill: an elegant solution, but a temporary one".
11. (17 September 2022). "King Charles seeks to amend law on who can act as his official stand-in". The Telegraph.
12. Coughlan, Sean. (26 October 2022). "More stand-ins for King, but Prince Andrew and Prince Harry stay". [[BBC News]].
13. (14 November 2022). "Princess Anne and Prince Edward to become stand-ins for King". BBC News.
14. "Counsellors of State Act 2022". The National Archive.
15. (18 January 2024). "'Concerns me that something went wrong': Princess Kate's long-term recovery from surgery". Sky News Australia.
16. (16 February 2022). "Prince Andrew to remain counsellor of state after settling sexual abuse lawsuit".
17. Meighan, Craig. (14 September 2022). "Anger over Prince Andrew's Earl of Inverness title amid Counsellor of State backlash". [[Newsquest]].
18. Queen Elizabeth lost her position as counsellor of state when she was widowed. However, the [[Regency Act 1953]] re-appointed her as a counsellor of state.
19. The Princess Royal lost her position as counsellor of state when Prince William reached the age of 21. However, the [[Counsellors of State Act 2022]] re-appointed her as a counsellor of state to Charles III.
20. Continued as a Counsellor of State to Charles III upon his accession
21. Prince Edward lost his position as counsellor of state when Prince Harry reached the age of 21. However, the [[Counsellors of State Act 2022]] re-appointed him as a counsellor of state to Charles III.