What is the privy council?

The work of this little-known advisory body normally takes place far from the public eye – that is, until its members are needed to proclaim a new sovereign

- Chris Stevenson

The privy council is the kind of official body you are unlikely to hear much about in normal circumstances. However, the process of the proclamation of a new sovereign – as took place yesterday – is certainly enough to grab the public’s attention.

That duty falls to the accession council, which is a ceremonial body made up of privy council members as well as certain other dignitaries, including the lord mayor of London, high commissioners and acting high commissioners of the realms. Only privy counsellors attend the second part of the accession, which on this occasion essentially doubled as King Charles III’s first privy council meeting.