The Queen was head of the Privy Council and its role is to advise the monarch
(Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)The Queen has died and King Charles III is the new monarch.
The death of the UK’s longest-reigning monarch was announced by Buckingham Palace in a statement released at 6.30pm on Thursday, September 9.
“The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow,” it said.
The new king, Charles III, said: “We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the realms, and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.”
New Prime Minister Liz Truss said: “We are all devastated by the news that we have just heard from Balmoral.
“The death of Her Majesty the Queen is a huge shock to the nation and to the world.”
On Wednesday, it was announced that the Queen missed a privy council meeting, after being advised to rest.
But what is the Privy Council? Here’s everything you need to know.
What is the Privy Council?
The Privy Council was originally the executive arm of the English Government, from as early as the 13th century, although its powers declined as political authority shifted to the Cabinet in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, states the House of Commons Library.
Formally, it remains the advisory body to the monarch, and its members are known as Privy Counsellors, who style themselves as ‘the Right Honourable’, and are required to take special oaths.
Counsellors are appointed for life by the monarch, on the advice of the Prime Minister, and they are individuals who hold, or have held, senior political, judicial, or ecclesiastical office in the UK, or in the Commonwealth realms.
All Cabinet ministers are Privy Counsellors, as are others by custom, for example, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lord Chief Justice of England, and, the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The main function of the Privy Council is to advise the monarch on giving formal effect to proclamations and orders in council, legal instruments which are made under prerogative or statutory powers.
Such instruments are formally enacted by the Queen, with the “advice of Her Majesty’s Privy Council”, although, in reality, the Crown acts on the advice of ministers, states the House of Commons Library.
What are the Privy Council’s powers?
The Privy Council exercises its executive powers through issuing formal documents called orders, which have a force of law.
Orders of Council do not require the approval of the monarch, ministers only approve them in their role as privy counsellors. More than 400 acts of Parliament give the Privy Council powers to make orders.
In order to approve legislation, the monarch says “approved” to each order read out by the lord president of the council during meetings. In addition, the monarch summons - or prorogues - Parliament on advice from the Privy Council.
Orders are either statutory or issued under royal prerogative, with prerogative orders used on matters for which it is not appropriate for Parliament to concern itself, or when legislation does not specifically allocate responsibility to a particular minister.
For example, through a privy council, the monarch grants royal charters, issues proclamations, deals with matters related to certain professional bodies and universities, and ratifies legislation from or extends it to overseas territories, reports the Institute Of Government.
When do Privy Council meetings take place?
Privy Council meetings take place, on average, once a month, with only those privy counsellors summonsed by the Lord President of the Council in attendance.
The Queen presides, and the clerk of the Privy Council authenticates the monarch’s assent to measures with their own signature, records, and the names of those present.
All stand during the meeting, and the monarch says “approved” or “referred” in response to each item mentioned.
Only a meeting of privy counsellors attended by the monarch constitutes a council, otherwise it’s a committee, of which there are several.
The most important of these is the Judicial Committee, while others stand on matters related to the Channel Islands, universities, and the Royal Charters, reports the Institute of Government.
