<![CDATA[In the case of the Sovereign not being able to
attend a Privy Council meeting because of an absence due to travel
abroad or temporary illness, two or more members of the Royal
Family will stand in as Counsellors of State. Their role is to
carry out the functions of the Sovereign.
The first Counsellors of State were created by an Order in Council
of George V in 1911.
Under the Regency Act 1937, Her Majesty is able to appoint
Counsellors of State.
They have a limited role, although any two Counsellors of State may
attend Privy Council meetings and they may sign standard documents.
The Counsellors of State cannot, unless on Her Majesty’s exact
orders dissolve Parliament or do they have the ability to create
peers.
The Counsellors of State are the consort of The Queen and the first
four people in the line of succession meeting the
qualifications.
Those who are chosen must have reached the age of twenty-one.
Although the heir to the throne becomes qualified when they reach
eighteen.
The only person to have been a Counsellor of State while not a
queen consort, prince or princess was George Lascelles, 7th Earl of
Harewood since the 1937 passage of the Regency Act.
The Queen Mother served as Counsellor of State from 1953 until
2002. Upon Prince William turning twenty-one, The Princess Royal's
position ended. The Same for the Earl of Wessex who was a
Counsellor until Prince Harry turned twenty-one in 2005.
The current Counsellors of State are: The Duke of Edinburgh, The
Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry of Wales and
The Duke of York.
The delegation of powers to Counsellors of State is made by letters
patent under the Great Seal of the Realm.
Featured photo credit: UK in Italy via
photopin cc]]>
