Hundreds of privy counsellors cut from King’s Accession Council

Only 200 privy counsellors will automatically be summoned to attend the first major event of the King’s reign.

St James’s Palace, in central London, where the Accession Council takes place (Nick Ansell/PA) (PA Archive)

Hundreds of privy counsellors are to miss the new King’s historic Accession Council after being dropped from the list of attendees due to lack of space and concerns over safety.

All 700-plus privy counsellors – mostly present and past politicians – would traditionally be summoned to witness the formal proclamation of the death of the monarch and the accession of the successor to the throne, and the King’s first Privy Council.

But the rules were changed to limit numbers due to fears of overcrowding in St James’s Palace, causing consternation and anger among those cut from the ancient role.

Although not all privy councillors are required to attend the Accession Council, which Buckingham Palace announced will take place at 10am on Saturday, this does not affect the constitutional process.

Numbers permitted to attend have been reduced to 200 – with senior politicians and members of the clergy prioritised – and the remaining 500 were asked to apply for an annual ballot for a small number of spare seats.

The Daily Telegraph reported in May 2022 that Richard Tilbrook, clerk of the Privy Council, had written to counsellors warning of the change, saying St James’s Palace presents a “number of significant challenges in terms of capacity, accessibility and crowd flow”.

He added: “The pace at which an Accession Council must take place limits the additional security, infrastructure and provision we are able to make on the day.

“Even with a number of mitigations in place, there was a significant risk of overcrowding and lengthy queuing, resulting in safety issues and a compromised experience for attendees, and potentially delaying the start of the Accession Council.”

Sir Edward Leigh, Tory MP for Gainsborough, told the Telegraph it risked reducing the Privy Council into “a mere Disneyland showpiece” rather than a body that is central to the UK’s constitutional functioning.

The Accession Council is considered the first major event of the King’s reign, and usually takes place within 24 hours of the death of the sovereign.

When the Queen acceded to the throne, there were 281 privy counsellors.

All were summoned, with 175 attending, on February 8 1952 when the monarch read her oath and presided over her first Privy Council, ahead of the public proclamation of the new sovereign being read in the open air from the palace’s Friary Court balcony.

Numbers have jumped considerably over the years, with up to 554 privy counsellors existing in 2010 and 719 in 2022.

The sovereign is the head of the Privy Council and the body advises the monarch as they carry out duties as head of state.

Privy Council members include cabinet members past and present, the speaker, the leaders of the main political parties, archbishops, senior judges and other senior public figures, and members are entitled to use the title Right Honourable.

Counsellors are appointed for life by the sovereign on the advice of the prime minister.

But only those privy counsellors summoned – usually cabinet ministers and a minimum of three people – by the lord president of the council attend the regular meetings, typically held monthly.

The Privy Council dates from the time of the Norman kings when the monarch met in private – hence the description Privy – with trusted counsellors who fulfilled the role the cabinet performs today.