ThePrivy Council of England, also known asHis (orHer)Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (Latin:concilium familiare, concilium privatum et assiduum[1][2]), was a body of advisers to thesovereign of theKingdom of England. Its members were often senior members of theHouse of Lords and theHouse of Commons, together with leading churchmen, judges, diplomats and military leaders.
The Privy Council of England was a powerful institution, advising the sovereign on the exercise of theroyal prerogative and on the granting ofroyal charters. It issued executive orders known asOrders in Council and also had judicial functions.
In 1708, the Privy Council of England was abolished and subsumed into thePrivy Council of Great Britain along with thePrivy Council of Scotland.
According to theOxford dictionary the definition of the word "privy" inPrivy Council is an obsolete one meaning "Of or pertaining exclusively to a particular person or persons; one's own",[3] insofar as the council is personal to the sovereign.
During the reign ofElizabeth I, the council is recorded under the title "The Queens Majesties Most Honourable Privy-Council".[4]
During the reign of theHouse of Normandy, theEnglish monarch was advised by acuria regis (Latin for "royal court"), which consisted ofmagnates,clergy and officers ofthe Crown. This body originally concerned itself with advising the sovereign on legislation, administration and justice.[5] At certain times, thecuria was enlarged by a general summons of magnates (the "great council" ormagnum concilium in Latin), but as a smaller council thecuria was in constant session and in direct contact with the king.[6]
Originally, important legal cases were heardcoram rege (Latin for "in the presence of the king himself"). But the growth of the royal justice system underHenry II (r. 1154–1189) required specialization, and the judicial functions of thecuria regis were delegated to two courts sitting atWestminster Hall: theCourt of King's Bench and theCourt of Common Pleas.[7]
By 1237, thecuria regis had formally split into two separate councils–the king's council andParliament; though, they had long been separate in practice. The king's council was "permanent, advisory, and executive".[8] It managed day to day government and included the king's ministers and closest advisers.[9] Its members always included a fewbarons, thegreat officers of state androyal household, and clerks, secretaries and other special counsellors (oftenfriars and literateknights).[10] It was capable of drafting legislativeacta—administrative orders issued asletters patent orletters close.[11]
During the reign ofHenry III (r. 1216–1272), a major theme of politics was the composition of the king's council. Barons frequently complained that they were inadequately represented, and efforts were made to change the council's membership.[12] At theOxford Parliament of 1258, reformers forced a reluctant Henry to accept theProvisions of Oxford, which vested royal power in an elected council of fifteen barons. However, these reforms were ultimately overturned with the king's victory in theSecond Barons War.[13]
The council ofEdward I (r. 1272–1307) played a major role in drafting and proposing legislation to Parliament for ratification.[14]
Powerful sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the courts and Parliament.[15] For example, a committee of the council – which later became theCourt of the Star Chamber – was during the fifteenth century permitted to inflict any punishment except death, without being bound by normal court procedure.[16]
DuringHenry VIII's reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation. The legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIII's death.[17] Though the royal council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became a primarily administrative body.[18]
By the end of the six year reign ofEdward VI in 1553, the council consisted of forty members.[19] but the sovereign relied on a smaller committee, which later evolved into the modernCabinet.
The council developed significantly during the reign ofElizabeth I, gaining political experience, so that there were real differences between the Privy Council of the 1560s and that of the 1600s.[20]
Elizabeth I was succeeded byJames I, who was already King James VI of Scotland. James' accession marked theUnion of the Crowns of England and Scotland; however, the two kingdoms continued to have separate privy councils. ThePrivy Council of Scotland continued in existence along with the Privy Council of England for more than a hundred years after the Union of the Crowns.
By the end of theEnglish Civil War, the monarchy,House of Lords and Privy Council had been abolished. A new government, theEnglish Commonwealth, was established. The remaining house of Parliament, theHouse of Commons, instituted a Council of State to execute laws and to direct administrative policy. The forty-one members of the council were elected by the Commons; the body was headed byOliver Cromwell, thede facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell becameLord Protector, and the Council was reduced to between thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs. The council became known as the Protector's Privy Council; its members were appointed by the Lord Protector, subject to Parliament's approval.[21]
In 1659, shortly before therestoration of the monarchy, the Protector's Council was abolished.[22]Charles II restored the royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small committee of advisers.[23]
In 1708, one year after theTreaty andActs of Union of 1707 created theKingdom of Great Britain, the English privy council was abolished by theParliament of Great Britain and thereafter there was onePrivy Council of Great Britain sitting in London.[24][25][26]
Nevertheless, long after theAct of Union 1800 theKingdom of Ireland retained thePrivy Council of Ireland, which came to an end only in 1922, whenSouthern Ireland separated from the United Kingdom, to be succeeded by thePrivy Council of Northern Ireland.[27]
The sovereign, when acting on the council's advice, was known as the "King-in-Council" or "Queen-in-Council". The members of the council were collectively known as "The Lords of His [or Her] Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council", or sometimes "The Lords and others of ..."). The chief officer of the body was theLord President of the Council, one of theGreat Officers of State.[28] Another important official was the clerk, whose signature was appended to all orders made.
Membership was generally for life, although the death of a monarch brought an immediate dissolution of the council, as all Crown appointments automatically lapsed.[29]
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