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Private Secretary to the Sovereign
Royal Coat of Arms
Incumbent Sir Clive Alderton since 8 September 2022
Royal Households of the United Kingdom
Style	The Right Honourable (UK and the Commonwealth)
Member of	Privy Council
Reports to	The Sovereign
Seat	Buckingham Palace
Nominator	The Sovereign
Appointer	The Sovereign
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	1805
First holder	Herbert Taylor
Deputy	Deputy Private Secretary to the Sovereign

Theprivate secretary to the sovereign is the senior operational member of theRoyal Household of thesovereign of the United Kingdom (as distinct from thegreat officers of the Household, whose duties are largely ceremonial). The private secretary is the principal channel of communication between the monarch and the governments in most of theCommonwealth realms.^{[note 1]} They also have responsibility for the official programme and correspondence of the sovereign. Through these roles the position wields considerable influence. This is one of the most senior positions within theRoyal Household.

The current private secretary position is held by SirClive Alderton.

English monarchs have had secretaries and clerks since at least the late Middle Ages, under various titles such as King's Clerk, King's Secretary, or Principal Secretary. This office turned into theSecretary of State, and eventually became a governmental position. The Scottish monarchy had a similar office, theSecretary of Scotland.

ColonelHerbert Taylor, who was appointed in 1805, is acknowledged as the first private secretary to the sovereign. However, the office was not formally established until 1867. Constitutionally, there was some opposition on the part of ministers to the creation of an office that might grow to have considerable influence upon the sovereign. However, it was soon realised that the sovereign was in need of secretarial support, since his or her ministers had ceased to provide daily advice and support with the growth of ministerial government.Queen Victoria did not have a private secretary until she appointed GeneralCharles Grey to the office in 1861; her husbandPrince Albert had in effect been her secretary until his death.

The principal functions of the office are:

• to act as a channel of communication between the sovereign and his or her governments, and to advise the sovereign on constitutional, political or governmental questions;
• to organise the official programme of the sovereign, and to ensure its acceptability to both the sovereign and the government; these duties including drafting speeches, maintaining connection with other households, theRoyal Train,The King's Helicopter,No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron RAF, and the armed forces – the last through theDefence Services Secretary; and
• to deal with the sovereign's official correspondence (including congratulatory messages), from members of the public,Royal Communications, and theCourt Circular; and also to deal with the sovereign's private papers, theRoyal Archives, and the monarchy's official website.

The position of private secretary is regarded as equivalent to that of thepermanent secretary of a government department. The incumbent is always made aprivy counsellor on appointment, and has customarily received apeerage upon retirement (alife peerage since 1972, although a small number have been given hereditary titles). Until 1965, peerages granted to Private Secretaries were hereditary baronies, with the exception ofLord Knollys, who was created aviscount in 1911. All private secretaries since the time ofLord Stamfordham have been created peers, with the exceptions of SirAlexander Hardinge (inherited his father's barony in 1944), SirAlan Lascelles (declined as he felt titles to be a show of self-importance) and SirWilliam Heseltine (who is an Australian).

Private secretaries to the sovereign are always knighted, typically in theOrder of the Bath or theRoyal Victorian Order, or both. The same is often true for principal private secretaries to other members of theRoyal Household, such asWilliam, Prince of Wales.

The private secretary is head of only one of the several operational divisions of theRoyal Household. However, he or she is involved in co-ordination between various parts of the household, and has direct control over royal communications, theRoyal Archives, and the office of theDefence Services Secretary.

There are 57 people employed in the office of the monarch's private secretary.^[1]

The private secretary is responsible for liaising with theCabinet Secretary, thePrivy Council Office (PCO), and theMinistry of Justice'sCrown Office in relation to:

• appointments that are formally made by the sovereign;
• the scheduling of the meetings of thePrivy Council; and
• the transmission of official documents that need to be signed by the sovereign.

Reporting to the private secretary is the role ofdirector for security liaison, which was established following a recommendation of the Security Commission in 2004.^[2] The post was first held by BrigadierJeffrey Cook, who was in office from 2004 to 2008. The private secretary has general oversight of security policy, though themaster of the household is also involved, and thekeeper of the Privy Purse has responsibility for the ceremonial bodyguards, such as thegentlemen at arms and theyeomen of the Guard.

Private Secretary		Term of office		Peerage	Monarch (Reign)
	Colonel Herbert Taylor	1805	1811		George III (1760–1820; under regency from 1811)
	Colonel Sir John McMahon, 1st Baronet	1811	1817	[3]	The Prince Regent, laterGeorge IV (1820–1830)
	Lieutenant-General SirBenjamin Bloomfield	1817	1822	Baron Bloomfield
	SirWilliam Knighton	1822	1830
	Lieutenant-General SirHerbert Taylor	1830	1837		William IV (1830–1837)
	William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (informally, while Prime Minister)	1837	1840		Victoria (1837–1901)
	Prince Albert (informally)	1840	1861
	Colonel SirCharles Beaumont Phipps	1861	1866
	General Charles Grey	1861	1870
	Major-General SirHenry Ponsonby	1870	1895
	Lieutenant-Colonel SirArthur Bigge	1895	1901	Baron Stamfordham
	Francis Knolyss, 1st Baron Knollys	1901	1910	Viscount Knollys	Edward VII (1901–1910)
		1910	1913		George V (1910–1936)
	Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham		1931
	Colonel Clive Wigram, 1st Baron Wigram	1931	1936
	Major SirAlec Hardinge	1936	1936	Baron Hardinge of Penshurst	Edward VIII (1936)
		1936	1943		George VI (1936–1952)
	Captain SirAlan Lascelles	1943	6 February 1952	[4]
		6 February 1952	1953		Elizabeth II (1952–2022)
	Lieutenant-Colonel SirMichael Adeane	1 January 1954	1 April 1972	Baron Adeane (for life)
	Lieutenant-Colonel SirMartin Charteris	1 April 1972	12 November 1977	Baron Charteris of Amisfield (for life)
	SirPhilip Moore	12 November 1977	1 April 1986	Baron Moore of Wolvercote (for life)
	SirWilliam Heseltine	1 April 1986	19 October 1990
	SirRobert Fellowes	19 October 1990	4 February 1999	Baron Fellowes (for life)
	Lieutenant SirRobin Janvrin	4 February 1999	8 September 2007	Baron Janvrin (for life)
	SirChristopher Geidt	8 September 2007	17 October 2017	Baron Geidt (for life)
	SirEdward Young	17 October 2017	8 September 2022	Baron Young of Old Windsor (for life)
		8 September 2022	15 May 2023		Charles III (2022–present)
	SirClive Alderton		present

• Canadian Secretary to the King
• Private secretary

• Monarchy of the United Kingdom
• Positions within the British Royal Household
• 1805 establishments in the United Kingdom
• Private secretaries to the sovereign

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