Revoking a knighthood requires more than just a Gazette notice. There will also be a written instrument. For a Knight Bachelor, this will be Letters Patent under the Great Seal like these (this is done even if the knighthood wasn't originally conferred by patent). 1/2

Another task in Burnham's in-tray will be advising the King to formally accept the resignations of departing ministers. There used to be separate submissions for each position, but today they seem to be consolidated into one submission (the Thatcher examples are from PREM 5/606).

As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham will recommend a range of ministerial appointments to the King. Here's how the process works. First, No. 10 obtains the King's informal approval. Protocol dictates that this should precede any public announcements. 1/10

Andy Burnham's appointment as Prime Minister will be a multi-step process that will start when he accepts the King's invitation to form a government. The Court Circular's account of Burnham's audience with the King will say that he kissed hands upon his appointment. 1/6

What exactly are the powers of an outgoing Prime Minister, and has Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement of the Defence Investment Plan highlighted a constitutional blindspot? Darryn Nyatanga investigates: https://consoc.org.uk/outgoing-prime-minister/

Can an Outgoing Prime Minister Still Make Major Decisions? - The Constitution Society

Darryn Nyatanga explores the constitutional position of an outgoing Prime Minister and argues there's a blind spot in the powers they possess.

consoc.org.uk

I recently stumbled upon a collection of documents relating to the appointment of Quentin Bryce as Governor of Queensland. They include correspondence seeking the Queen's informal approval for the appointment as well as the subsequent formal submission from the Premier. 1/2

The appointment of a Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead involves a Warrant issued by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Here's the Warrant appointing David Cameron to the office in 2016.

The dating of Letters Patent can be flexible. The Warrant for the 1980 Great Seal Commission was submitted to Queen Elizabeth II on February 21. While she signed it by February 26, the subsequent Letters Patent were dated March 6 [LCO 6/3932].

List of Business for an 18th-century meeting of the Privy Council. It's undated, but comparison with the Privy Council Register reveals that this was for the meeting held on Dec. 23, 1730. 1/4

Letter from the Secretary of State to the Attorney General asking whether a tiger that had been forfeited to the Crown as a deodand after killing an infant could be redeemed for a sum of money. If not, he wanted to know who should be asked to kill the tiger. 1/2

Transcript of the Commission appointing Charles Townshend as Secretary at War [SP 44/194].

Sir Keir Starmer is resigning, and Andy Burnham is the favorite to succeed him. Whoever wins will be the UK's seventh Prime Minister in a decade. In this post, I look at Burnham's path to power and the constraints he'll face in office. venerablepuzzle.wordpress.com/2026/06/24/s...

Starmer Steps Down, and Burnham Steps Up

After months of speculation, Sir Keir Starmer has announced that he will resign as Prime Minister once the Labour Party selects a new leader. The favorite to succeed him is the former Mayor of Grea…

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One of two draft wills left behind by Queen Anne. Although most of the details were left blank, she did include a £2,000 bequest to the poor (that would be ≈£286,567 today). King George I honored this even though the Treasury told him it wasn't legally binding [PC 1/2 f.260].

When the Great Seal or the Privy Seal were placed into commission, the Commissioners for their custody used to receive those seals and take oaths in Council just like the Lord Chancellor & the Lord Privy Seal. These are taken from the Privy Council Register (PC 2/128 & 113) 1/2

Last week, the King made an Order in Council directing the Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint to engrave new Seals for the Secretaries of State, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Privy Council. As with the Great Seal, the procedure has been simplified. 1/5

A short post on the decision to rename the Chancery Division of the High Court. venerablepuzzle.wordpress.com/2026/06/03/r...

RIP Chancery Division

The Lady Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor recently announced a reorganization of the High Court. The specialist Business and Property Courts that are currently divided between the King’s Bench…

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One wonders how many of these submissions the Prime Minister will be signing in the days to come.

Appointing a Canon of Westminster or Windsor involves a Writ of Mandamus in addition to the Letters Patent. This use of the Writ may be unique to the Royal Peculiars. The Writ's eschatocol is unusual for an instrument which passes under the Great Seal. 1/2

When Royal Assent is needed, the Lord Chancellor makes a submission to the Sovereign like this one. Note that the list of bills has been altered with red pen to change the ordering. I knew about these kinds of changes from Erskine May, but they're more common than I realized. 1/2

Today's Commission for Prorogation was apparently signed by the King even though he's currently in the US. If it had been signed by Counsellors of State, the eschatocol would have been completely different. It seems he hasn't delegated his powers for this trip.

Submissions for the appointment of two High Court Justices and a Judge of the Supreme Court. While the former asks the King to approve their appointments in addition to signing the necessary Warrants, the latter only submits the Warrant. 1/2

After almost 9 months of stonewalling, the Ministry of Justice finally provided me with 39 of Alex Chalk's submissions to the King. I'll be publishing an analysis of these documents on my blog in the not-too-distant future.

Submission for the appointment of Dame Sue Carr as Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales.

At the Accession Council, the King made an Order authorizing the continued use of the existing Great Seal of Scotland. This seems to have been a first since there was no such Order in 1952 (though there *was* one for Northern Ireland's Great Seal). 1/6

In 1975, Roy Jenkins advised the Queen to grant the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition the title 'royal.' The Palace returned his submission. My post looks at what this reveals about the reality of royal influence in the British constitution. venerablepuzzle.wordpress.com/2026/03/23/w...

When the Queen Said No: The Leeds International Piano Competition and the Personal Prerogatives

A 1975 Home Office file reveals what happened when Queen Elizabeth II refused to accept the Home Secretary’s advice on a seemingly routine matter.

venerablepuzzle.wordpress.com

92 hereditary peers are set to lose their seats as a 'temporary' compromise that endured for over a quarter of a century comes to an end. You can read my thoughts on the bill and why comprehensive Lords reform will likely remain elusive here. venerablepuzzle.wordpress.com/2026/03/17/f...

From Compromise to Closure: The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill has now completed its journey through Parliament. Although peers made several amendments to the bill, the Commons rejected most of them. In the end, the L…

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Removal from the Privy Council, 18th-century style [PC 2/127]. Since each volume of the Privy Council Register began with a list of Privy Counsellors, Flood's name was struck out multiple times (though it was left untouched in some of the earlier lists). 1/2

Letter from the FCDO to the Palace seeking the King's informal approval for Mandelson's appointment along with a CV. I'm told the practice of submitting CVs to the Palace started after His Majesty's accession and they were not customary under the late Queen.

Two Warrants directing the Northern Ireland Secretary to pass documents under the Great Seal of Northern Ireland. The first is for Letters Patent conferring City status upon Bangor while the second is for Letters Patent appointing a High Court Judge. 1/5

Very British Problems. After accepting the Provostship of Eton, Lord Hugh Cecil expressed concern that his attendance at the Church Assembly and the Coronation might conflict with Eton's residency requirements. It's not clear if No. 10 responded [PREM 5/586/6]. 1/2