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What is the Privy Council? What does it do? How did it come into being? We have no written constitution and, therefore, no easy answers to these questions. There are people that would argue that it has no power at all. Others might disagree. Particularly if you had been sentenced to death in a former British overseas territory that still used the Privy Council as its Court of appeal, for example, or if you were a student having a row with your college examiners where the University Chancellor, or the Official Visitor, was a member of the royal family. Perhaps, a priest who had been defrocked by the Church of England's Court of Arches, or, for that matter, a prime minister trying to establish a Royal Charter to control the press. The current Privy Council is attend by the Cabinet of the day and draws its membership from both the Houses of Commons and Lords . It is a uniquely powerful committee within Parliament and to emphasise its clandestine nature members are not allowed to talk about its meetings and actions. It cannot be called to account by either House in Parliament.
Traditionally, the Council has always existed to advise the Sovereign on the exercise of the Royal Prerogative, to make laws, to condemn to death and to go to war. Nowadays, most of its power has been devolved, yet it cannot simply be dismissed as having simply a ceremonial role. Its tentacles spread to every area of parliamentary and public life. Brides, battleships and burial plots, all are affected by the current workings of the Privy Council, as is the governance of both the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. By Royal Appointment takes us on an anecdote-filled odyssey through the history of one of England's oldest and most secretive institutions, its history spanning the our history from King Cnut, through the middle ages up to its modern embodiment and functions.
About the author
David Rogers is a parliamentary advisor who has worked with key political figures in the Privy Council. He is a former senior lecturer, visiting fellow and member of the governing body of Goldsmiths University of London and has been a columnist on The Sunday Times and The Spectator. He lives in north Kent.
Summary
An anecdote-filled odyssey through the history of one of England's oldest and most secretive institutions.
