Mary was left in a difficult position, as almost all the Privy Counsellors had been implicated in the plot to put Lady Jane on the throne.

The Prime Minister will appoint all other cabinet members ( who then become active Privy Counsellors ) and ministers, although consulting senior ministers on their junior ministers, without any Parliamentary or other control or process over these powers.

In periodical reshuffles, the Prime Minister can sideline and simply drop from Cabinet the Members who have fallen out of favour: they remain Privy Counsellors, but the Prime Minister decides which of them are summoned to meetings.

The Judicial Committee consists of senior judges appointed as Privy Counsellors: Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, judges of the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland, judges of the Inner House of the Court of Session ( the supreme civil court in Scotland ), and judges from various other Commonwealth member states.

The Church of England's three senior bishops — the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London are made Privy Counsellors on their appointment.

The bulk of Privy Counsellors, however, are politicians.

Leaders of large parties in the House of Commons, First Ministers of the devolved assemblies, some senior ministers outside the cabinet, and on occasion senior Parliamentarians are appointed Privy Counsellors.

As Privy Counsellors are bound by their oath to keep matters discussed at Council meetings secret, the appointment of the leaders of Opposition parties as Privy Counsellors allows the Government to share confidential information with them " on Privy Council terms ".

By 2000, the most notable instance was New Zealand, whose Prime Minister, senior politicians, Chief Justice and Court of Appeal judges were conventionally made Privy Counsellors.

* Historic list of Privy Counsellors

* List of current Privy Counsellors

Initially well regarded because of its speed and flexibility, it was made up of Privy Counsellors, as well as common-law judges, and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts in both civil and criminal matters.

The latter style applies only to Privy Counsellors.

The Council includes the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, as well as the Lords Spiritual, Lords Temporal and Privy Counsellors.

When granting Assent by Commission, the Sovereign authorises three or more ( normally five ) Lords who are Privy Counsellors to grant Assent in his or her name.

All Cabinet members are created Privy Counsellors on appointment ( if they are not already Privy Counsellors ), but only selected Privy Counsellors are appointed to the Cabinet or invited to attend.

Having had the matter referred back to the local courts by the Privy Council with a clear indication of a view that the amnesty was valid, in July 1992, the High Court upheld the validity of a government amnesty given to the Jamaat members during the hostage crisis.

The Cabinet, along with the PM, consists of Secretaries of State from the various government departments, the Lord High Chancellor, the Lord Privy Seal, the President of the Board of Trade, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Ministers without portfolio.

Since 1832, appeals from the High Court of Chivalry are to be heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

The High Sheriff of an English or Welsh county is an unpaid, partly ceremonial post appointed by The Crown through a Warrant from the Privy Council.

His grandfather, the Right Honourable Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson, was a judge of the High Court of Justice and a Privy Councillor.

* Jack Straw, Member of Parliament ; former Home Secretary ; former Foreign Secretary ; former Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons ; former Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and Secretary of State for Justice.

The British Government was adamant in its opposition to the abolition of appeals to the Privy Council as incorporated in the draft constitution — eventually Barton agreed that constitutional ( inter se ) matters would be finalised in the High Court, but other matters could be appealed to the Privy Council.

The Privy Council instructed the High Sheriff in each county to count all stocks of grain in the possession of farmers and merchants and to make a return of total cereal stocks in their county.

In 1434 he became member of the Privy Council of Sweden and in October of the same year he assumed one of its most senior offices, Lord High Constable of Sweden, or Riksmarsk.

Cecil notably served under Queen Elizabeth I and later King James I as Secretary of State, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Lord Privy Seal and Lord High Treasurer.

Historically though, the most senior member of the Privy Council ( during the absolute rule this was the Lord High Chancellor ) had certain similarities to the office of a head of government.

The Lord President of the Council is the fourth of the Great Officers of State of the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord High Treasurer and above the Lord Privy Seal.

He was a Privy Councillor from 1630 and Lord High Steward from 1640.

He was appointed to the Privy Council, and presided as Lord High Steward at the trial of the Duke of Northumberland on 18 August.

Jesper Mattson Cruus af Edeby ( 1576 – 1622 ) was a Swedish soldier and politician, being appointed Privy Councilor in 1612, Field Marshal in 1615, Lord High Treasurer in 1615, and Governor of Riga in 1621.

He was appointed Field Marshal in 1616, Privy Councilor in 1617, Governor General of Ingria in 1617 and Lord High Admiral in 1620.

He was appointed Privy Councilor in 1641, Field Marshal in 1648 and Lord High Constable in 1660.

He was appointed head of Kronobergs regemente in 1637, Major General in 1643, Privy Councilor in 1652, Field Marshal in 1656, under the terms of the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658 became Governor General of Scania, Halland and Blekinge, Lord High Admiral in 1664, and Chancellor of Lund University in 1666.

He was appointed Privy Councilor in 1613, Governor of Swedish Estonia between 1619 and 1622, Governor General of Livonia in 1622, and Lord High Constable in 1620.

He served variously as Lord High Admiral and Lord Privy Seal.

The charges were brought against Castlehaven on the complaint of his heir, who feared disinheritance, and were heard by the Privy Council, under the direction of Thomas Coventry, Lord High Steward.

The issue of appeals from the High Court to the United Kingdom's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council was a significant one during the drafting of the Constitution, and it continued to be significant in the years after the court's creation.

After that case, in which the Privy Council refused to answer the constitutional questions put to it, the High Court never certified another inter se appeal.

After the House of Commons he rose quickly, becoming one of the Commissioners of the Treasury and a member of the Privy Council.

The other Lords Commissioners, by convention, are members of the House of Lords who are Privy Counsellors ( generally the leaders of the three main parties and the Convenor of the Crossbenches ).

The Lords Commissioners are Privy Counsellors appointed by the Monarch of the United Kingdom to exercise, on his or her behalf, certain functions relating to Parliament which would otherwise require the monarch's attendance at the Palace of Westminster.

The Council is made up of Privy Counsellors, members of the House of Lords, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the Aldermen of the City of London and the High Commissioners of some Commonwealth countries.

To exercise control over these local activities, a number of supervisory boards such as the Board of Supervision for Poor Relief ( 1845-1894 ), the General Board of Commissioners in Lunacy ( 1857-1913 ) and the Scotch Education Department ( a committee of the Privy Council ) were established.

The Ministry of Health Act 1919 abolished the Local Government Board, and all of its powers and duties were transferred to the new ministry, which also combined the duties of the Insurance Commissioners, the Welsh Insurance Commissioners, the medical duties of the Board of Education, the duties of the Privy Council under the Midwives Acts and the powers of the Home Secretary in relation to the Children Act 1908.

The Lords Commissioners of Trade and Foreign Plantations, appointed in 1696 and commonly known as the Lords of Trade, did not constitute a committee of the Privy Council, but were, in fact, members of a separate body.

He was appointed one of the four Commissioners of the Treasury in 1642, was Lieutenant-General of the Scots army in Ireland, and was appointed Privy Councillor in the same year.