Category:Privy Councillors

These people served as members of His (Her) Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council in Britain, and before that, in England.

The Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. Its members are largely senior politicians, who were or are members of either the House of Commons or House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Privy Council, the successor of the Privy Council of England, was formerly a powerful institution, but its policy decisions are now controlled by one of its committees, the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. It advises the Sovereign on the exercise of the Royal Prerogative, and issues executive orders known as Orders-in-Council and Orders of Council. Orders-in-Council make government regulations and appointments. Orders of Council are issued under the specific authority of Acts of Parliament, which delegate such matters to the Council, and are normally used to regulate public institutions. The Council advises on the issuing of Royal Charters, which grant special status to incorporated bodies and city and borough status to towns.

Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada advises the monarch and/or her Governor-General on Constitutional matters. Though the Privy Council is formally only a body of consultants, the principle of responsible government almost invariably requires the sovereign or viceroy to follow the advice of the Cabinet, which is a committee within the Privy Council made up of MPs and Senators.

Members of the Privy Council are appointed for life by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister. The only Canadian Councillor who has ever appeared in Turtledove's canon is [[Robert Borden].