Counsellor of State

Counsellors of State are senior members of the British royal family to whom the monarch can delegate royal functions through letters patent under the Great Seal, to prevent delay or difficulty in the dispatch of public business in the case of their illness (except total incapacity) or of their intended or actual absence from the United Kingdom.^[1][2]

Counsellors of state may carry out "such of the royal functions as may be specified in the Letters Patent".^[1] In practice, this means most of the monarch's official duties, such as attending Privy Council meetings, signing routine documents and receiving the credentials of new ambassadors to the Court of St James's.^[3] However, by law, counsellors of state cannot grant ranks, titles or peerages.^[1] They also, by the terms of the letters patent, cannot deal with a number of core constitutional functions, such as Commonwealth matters, the dissolution of Parliament (except on the monarch's express instruction) and the appointment of prime ministers.^[3] A rare example occurred on 7 February 1974 of the Proclamation of the Dissolution of Parliament being promulgated by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret as counsellors of state, on the express instructions of Queen Elizabeth II.^[4]

Royal functions are to be exercised jointly by the counsellors of state or by such number of them as is specified in the letters patent under the Great Seal and subject to any other conditions within.^[5] However, there is a legal presumption that counsellors of state should act jointly and, as such, at least two are needed to act, with the absence of one possibly risking a legal challenge.^[6]

Counsellors of state are always the monarch's spouse and the next four people in the line of succession who meet the following specifications: they must be British subjects of full age (21 years, or 18 years for the heir apparent or presumptive) who are domiciled in the United Kingdom and not disqualified from becoming monarch.^[7][8] During a regency, the next four eligible people in the line of succession after the regent (and the regent's spouse) may be counsellors.^[9] A monarch may also request that Parliament add specific people to their counsellors of state. This was done by Queen Elizabeth II leading to section 3 of the Regency Act 1953 and by King Charles III leading to the Counsellors of State Act 2022.^[10]