The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords.
The Privy Council formally advises the sovereign on the exercise of the royal prerogative. The King-in-Council issues executive instruments known as Orders in Council. The Privy Council also holds the delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. It advises the sovereign on the issuing of royal charters, which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, and city or borough status to local authorities. Otherwise, the Privy Council's powers have now been largely reserved to its executive committee, the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, which thus serves as the senior decision-making body of the government. The council is administratively headed by the Lord President of the Council who is a member of the cabinet, and is appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Certain judicial functions are also performed by the King-in-Council, although in practice its actual work of hearing and deciding upon cases is carried out day-to-day only by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Judicial Committee consists of senior judges appointed as privy counsellors: predominantly justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, as well as some senior judges from other Commonwealth nations. The Privy Council by its Judicial Committee was formerly the final court of appeal for litigants in courts throughout the British Empire (but not for most cases in the United Kingdom itself). It continues to be the highest court of appeal for some Commonwealth countries, Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, as well as for a few institutions in the United Kingdom.
History
The Privy Council of the United Kingdom, created on 1 January 1801, was preceded by the Privy Council of Scotland, the Privy Council of England, and the Privy Council of Great Britain (1708–1800). Its continued existence has been described as "more or less a constitutional and historical accident". The key events in the formation of the modern Privy Council are given below:
In Anglo-Saxon England, the Witenagemot was an early equivalent to the Privy Council of England. During the reigns of the Norman monarchs, the English Crown was advised by a royal court or curia regis, which consisted of magnates, ecclesiastics and high officials. The body originally concerned itself with advising the sovereign on legislation, administration and justice. Later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing justice, while Parliament became the supreme legislature of the kingdom. Nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the sovereign on the advice of the Council, rather than on the advice of Parliament, were accepted as valid. Powerful sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the Courts and Parliament. For example, a committee of the Council—which later became the Court of the Star Chamber—was during the 15th century permitted to inflict any punishment except death, without being bound by normal court procedure. During Henry VIII's reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation. The legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIII's death. By 1540 the nineteen-member council had become a new national institution, most probably the creation of Thomas Cromwell, without there being exact definitions of its powers. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became a primarily administrative body. In 1553 the Council consisted of forty members, whereas Henry VII swore over a hundred servants to his council. Sovereigns relied on a smaller working committee which evolved into the modern Cabinet.
By the end of the English Civil War, the monarchy, House of Lords, and Privy Council had been abolished. The remaining parliamentary chamber, the House of Commons, instituted a Council of State to execute laws and to direct administrative policy. The forty-one members of the Council were elected by the House of Commons; the body was headed by Oliver Cromwell, de facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector, and the Council was reduced to between thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs. The Council became known as the Protector's Privy Council; its members were appointed by the Lord Protector, subject to Parliament's approval.
In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy, the Protector's Council was abolished. King Charles II restored the Royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small group of advisers. The formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 combined the Privy Councils of England and Scotland, the latter body coming to an end in 1708.
Under King George I, even more power transferred to a small committee of the Council, which began to meet in the absence of the sovereign, communicating its decisions to him after the fact. Thus, the Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisers to the Sovereign; the role passed to a committee of the Council, now known as the Cabinet.
With the creation of the United Kingdom on 1 January 1801, a single Privy Council was created for Great Britain and Ireland, although the Privy Council of Ireland continued to function until 1922, when it became defunct upon the creation of the Irish Free State as an independent Dominion outside the United Kingdom, but within the British Empire. The Privy Council of Northern Ireland was created in 1922, but became defunct in 1972, when the Parliament of Northern Ireland was closed down.
Functions
The sovereign may make Orders in Council upon the advice of the Privy Council. Orders in Council, which are drafted by the government rather than by the sovereign, are forms of either primary or secondary legislation, depending on the power they are made under. Orders made under prerogative powers, such as the power to grant royal assent to legislation, are a form of primary legislation, while orders made under statutory powers are a form of secondary legislation.
Orders of Council, distinct from Orders in Council, are issued by members of the Privy Council without requiring the approval of the sovereign. Like Orders in Council, they can be made under statutory powers or royal prerogative. Orders of Council are most commonly used for the regulation of public institutions and regulatory bodies.
The sovereign also grants royal charters on the advice of the Privy Council. Charters bestow special status to incorporated bodies; they are used to grant chartered status to certain professional, educational or charitable bodies, and sometimes also city and borough status to towns. The Privy Council therefore deals with a wide range of matters, which also includes university and livery company statutes, churchyards, coinage and the dates of bank holidays. The Privy Council formerly had sole power to grant academic degree-awarding powers and the title of university, but following the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 these powers have been transferred to the Office for Students for educational institutions in England.
Notable orders
Before the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 the UK Civil Service was governed and managed using powers within the royal prerogative. These powers were usually delegated to ministers by Orders in Council. Using these powers, Margaret Thatcher controversially determined to ban GCHQ staff from joining trade unions.
In another case dealing with civil service, the Civil Service (Amendment) Order in Council 1997 permitted the Prime Minister to grant up to three political or 'special advisers' management authority over some civil servants.
In the 1960s, the Privy Council made an order to evict an estimated 1,200 to 2,000 inhabitants of the 55-island Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, in preparation for the establishment of a joint United States–United Kingdom military base on the largest island in the archipelago, Diego Garcia. In 2000, the High Court of Justice ruled that the inhabitants had a right to return to the archipelago. In 2004, the Privy Council, during the tenure of Jack Straw as Lord Chancellor (and thus head of the Privy Council) overturned the ruling. In 2006, the High Court of Justice found the Privy Council's decision to be unlawful. Justice Kentridge stated that there was no known precedent "for the lawful use of prerogative powers to remove or exclude an entire population of British subjects from their homes and place of birth", and the Court of Appeal were persuaded by this argument upholding his decision when it came up to them. However, in 2007 the Law Lords of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords, itself part of the Privy Council as the Judiciary Committee, found the first instance decision to be flawed and overturned the appeal court by 3–2, thereby upholding the validity of the Order in Council. On 22 May 2025, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, signed a formal agreement on the transfer of sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Committees
The Privy Council have the following committees:
Baronetage Committee
The Baronetage Committee was established by a 1910 Order in Council, during Edward VII's reign, to scrutinise all succession claims (and thus reject doubtful ones) to be placed on the Roll of Baronets.
Committee for the Affairs of Jersey and Guernsey
The Committee for the Affairs of Jersey and Guernsey recommends approval of Channel Islands legislation.
Committee for the Purposes of the Crown Office Act 1877
The Committee for the purposes of the Crown Office Act 1877 consists of the Lord Chancellor and Lord Privy Seal as well as a secretary of state. The Committee, which last met in 1988, is concerned with the design and usage of wafer seals.
Executive Committee
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the executive committee of the Privy Council and the senior decision-making body of British Government.
Judicial Committee
The Judicial Committee serves as the final court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries, military sovereign base areas and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. This committee usually consists of members of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and senior judges of the Commonwealth of Nations who are Privy Counsellors.
Within the United Kingdom, the Judicial Committee also hears very occasional appeals from a number of ancient and ecclesiastical courts. These include the Court of Admiralty of the Cinque Ports, Prize Courts, the High Court of Chivalry, the Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, appeals against schemes of the Church Commissioners, and appeals under certain Acts of Parliament (e.g., the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975). The Judicial Committee had direct jurisdiction in cases relating to the Scotland Act 1998, the Government of Wales Act 1998 and the Northern Ireland Act 1998, but this was transferred to the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2009.
The Crown-in-Council was formerly the supreme appellate (final) court for the entire British Empire, but many Commonwealth countries have in the last half century abolished the right to such appeals. The Judicial Committee nevertheless continues to hear appeals from several Commonwealth countries, as well as from British Overseas Territories, Sovereign Base Areas and Crown Dependencies such as the Pitcairn Islands.
Scottish Universities Committee
The Scottish Universities Committee considers proposed amendments to the statutes of Scotland's four ancient universities.
Universities Committee
The Universities Committee, which last met in 1995, considers petitions against statutes made by Oxford and Cambridge universities and their colleges.
Board of Trade
The Committee for Trade and Foreign Plantations is responsible for foreign trade and used to manage the Crown colonies, but As of 2020 has only one member (the President of the Board of Trade).
Other committees
In addition to the standing committees, ad hoc committees are notionally set up to consider and report on petitions for royal charters of Incorporation and to approve changes to the bye-laws of bodies created by royal charter.
Committees of privy counsellors are occasionally established to examine specific issues. Such committees are independent of the Privy Council Office and therefore do not report directly to the lord president of the council. Examples of such committees include:
the Butler Committee – operation of the intelligence services in the runup to military intervention in Iraq;
the Chilcot Committee – for the Chilcot Inquiry on the use of intercept materials; and
the Gibson Committee of enquiry set up in 2010 – to consider whether the UK security services were complicit in torture of detainees.
Former committees
Historical, but now defunct committees include:
Lord President's Committee
Court of Star Chamber
Membership
Composition
The Sovereign, when acting on the Council's advice, is known as the King-in-Council or Queen-in-Council, depending on the sex of the reigning monarch. The members of the Council are collectively known as The Lords of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (sometimes The Lords and others of ...). The chief officer of the body is the Lord President of the Council, who is the fourth-highest Great Officer of State, a Cabinet member and normally, either the Leader of the House of Lords or of the House of Commons. Another important official is the Clerk, whose signature is appended to all orders made in the Council.
Both Privy Counsellor and Privy Councillor may correctly be used to refer to a member of the Council. The former, however, is preferred by the Privy Council Office, emphasising English usage of the term Counsellor as "one who gives counsel", as opposed to "one who is a member of a council". A Privy Counsellor is traditionally said to be "sworn of" the Council after being received by the sovereign.
The sovereign may appoint any person as a Privy Counsellor, but in practice, appointments are made only on the advice of His Majesty's Government. The majority of appointees are senior politicians, including ministers of the Crown, the leader of the main opposition party, the leader of the third-largest party in the House of Commons, the heads of the devolved governments, and senior politicians from Commonwealth countries. Besides these, the Council includes a small number of members of the Royal Family, some senior British and Commonwealth judges, some senior clergy, and a small number of senior civil servants.
There is no statutory limit to the membership of the Privy Council. Members have no automatic right to attend all Privy Council meetings, and only some are summoned regularly to meetings (in practice at the Prime Minister's discretion).
The Church of England's three senior bishops – the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London – become privy counsellors upon appointment. Senior members of the Royal Family may also be appointed, but this is confined to the Monarch's consort, heir apparent, and heir apparent's spouse. The Private Secretary to the Sovereign is always appointed a Privy Counsellor, as are the Lord Chamberlain, the Speaker of the House of Commons, and the Lord Speaker. Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, senior judges of the Inner House of the Court of Session (Scotland's highest law court) and the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland also join the Privy Council ex officio.
The balance of Privy Counsellors is largely made up of politicians. The Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers and the Leader of HM Opposition are traditionally sworn into the Privy Council upon appointment. Leaders of major parties in the House of Commons, first ministers of the devolved governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, some senior ministers outside Cabinet, and on occasion other respected senior parliamentarians are appointed privy counsellors.
Because Privy Counsellors are bound by oath to keep matters discussed at Council meetings secret, the appointment of the leaders of opposition parties as privy counsellors allows the Government to share confidential information with them "on Privy Council terms". This usually only happens in special circumstances, such as in matters of national security. For example, Tony Blair met Iain Duncan Smith (then Leader of HM Opposition) and Charles Kennedy (then Leader of the Liberal Democrats) "on Privy Council terms" to discuss the evidence for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Members from other Commonwealth realms
Although the Privy Council is primarily a British institution, officials from some other Commonwealth realms are also appointed. By 2000, the most notable instance was New Zealand, whose prime minister, senior politicians, chief justice and Court of Appeal justices were traditionally appointed privy counsellors. However, appointments of New Zealand members have since been discontinued. The prime minister, the speaker, the governor-general and the chief justice are still accorded the style Right Honourable, but without membership of the Council. Until the late 20th century, the prime ministers and chief justices of Canada and Australia were also appointed privy counsellors. Canada also has its own Privy Council, the King's Privy Council for Canada (see below). Prime ministers of some other Commonwealth countries that retain the King as their sovereign continue to be sworn of the Council.
Meetings
Meetings of the Privy Council are normally held once each month wherever the Sovereign may be in residence at the time. The quorum, according to the Privy Council Office, is three, though some statutes provide for other quorums (for example, section 35 of the Opticians Act 1989 provides for a lower quorum of two).