What is the privy council and what is its role?

The privy council’s work normally takes place away from the public eye, until its members are needed to proclaim a new sovereign, writes Chris Stevenson

The new Prince of Wales, the Queen Consort and King Charles III at St James’s Palace on Saturday (PA)

The privy council is the kind of official body you are unlikely to hear much about in normal circumstances. However, the process of the proclamation of a new sovereign – as took place on Saturday – is certainly enough to grab the public’s attention.

That duty falls to the accession council, which is a ceremonial body made up of privy council members as well as certain other dignitaries, including the lord mayor of London, high commissioners and acting high commissioners of the realms. Only privy counsellors attend the second part of the accession, which on this occasion essentially doubled as King Charles III’s first privy council meeting.

The history of the privy council – which is essentially a group of advisers to the monarch – is long: it is said to date back to the 13th century, although the power and influence it held began to decline in the 17th and 18th centuries as the cabinet gained more political authority.

Orders in and of the council have the same force as the law; they can be legislative, executive or judicial, and examples range from the constitution of an overseas territory to the setting up of a new government department. Orders are either statutory or issued under royal prerogative; prerogative orders are for instances when there is no legislation that allocates responsibility for a matter to a particular cabinet minister.

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 within the Commonwealth.

All those present stand during meetings, a tradition said to have been started by Queen Victoria, who also set the quorum: three privy counsellors. However, it is only officially a “council” if it is also attended by the monarch (or counsellors of state). Without their being present, the meeting constitutes a committee, of which there are several. The most important of these is the judicial committee; other standing committees advise on matters relating to the Channel Islands, universities and royal charters.

Privy council meetings take place, on average, once a month, with only those summoned needing to attend (usually cabinet ministers). A fuller meeting of the council is essentially only called to proclaim a new monarch, or upon the announcement of a reigning king or queen’s intention to marry. With around 700 members, there are very few instances when all will be in attendance. St James’s Palace, where the accession council was held on Saturday, could not have held that many people. Attendance at the event was limited to only around 200 members, apparently in order to maintain the “high presentation and safety standards required of the occasion”.

A ballot is said to have been held to allocate places – assuming the six living former prime ministers, along with former opposition party leaders Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband, were all shoo-ins. I'm sure there were plenty who would have liked to be present, given the historic nature of the most recent meeting – but beyond this weekend, the council’s work will go on as normal.