If King Charles is ever out of action, on a temporary basis, and can’t undertake official duties, two or more ‘Counsellors of State’ can act in his place.
Counsellors of State are authorised to carry out most of the official duties of the sovereign, for example, attending privy council meetings, signing routine documents and receiving the credentials of new ambassadors to the United Kingdom.
However, there are core constitutional functions that can’t be delegated, including Commonwealth matters, the dissolving of Parliament except on His Majesty’s express instruction, the creation of peers, and appointing a Prime Minister.
The Royal Family website reads that by law, Counsellors of State include the sovereign’s spouse and the next four people in the line of succession who are over the age of 21.
These royals are: The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Sussex, The Duke of York and Princess Beatrice.
But in practice, only working members of the Royal Family are called upon to act as Counsellors of State, which would exclude Prince Harry and Prince Andrew who, over the recent years, have become controversial in the eyes of many commentators and royal fans. Princess Beatrice is also not a working member of the Firm.
In 2022, the Regency Acts 1937 – 1953 were amended to enable The Princess Royal and The Duke of Edinburgh (then The Earl of Wessex) to serve as Counsellors of State. So the full list is now as follows: Queen Camilla, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice, Princess Anne, and Prince Edward.
When the changes were made it was also stated that only working royals will effectively be appointed as a Counsellor of State. So it is highly unlikely that Harry, living in America with his family after stepping down as a senior working royal in 2020, or Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his honorary military roles following the backlash of his association with the late Jeffrey Epstein, will be called upon to act as Counsellors of State.
Andrew still retains the title of ‘Prince’ from birth, and he also remains the Duke of York, which is a peerage.
Concerns were raised last year, when King Charles had to step back from official duties to undergo treatment for his undisclosed cancer diagnosis.
Naturally, concerns were raised over who would step in to help juggle the workload. Royal biographer Marlene Koenig previously told Express.co.uk: “Usually two Counsellors are named to serve if needed. The obvious choice here would be Queen Camilla and Prince William.”
She further commented that neither Prince Harry nor Prince Andrew would ever be called to step in for the King, saying: “This would not happen. Harry ceased to be domiciled in the UK when he lost his lease for Frogmore Cottage.
“Harry should be an automatic removal from the Counsellors of State as he is no longer domiciled in the UK (and would be replaced by Eugenie)”.