1
The list of the proposed Administration is submitted by the Prime Minister to the King for approval. Constitutionally, the Sovereign has the right of veto, and may require any of the Ministerial appointments to be cancelled. This prerogative is now rarely, if ever, enforced. So far as is known, Queen Victoria was the last Sovereign to raise objections to certain of the names proposed to her. When Gladstone was forming his Government in 1880, she wished for Lord Hartington at the War Office, in place of Mr. Childers; but she was induced to give way. It was said in 1893, when Gladstone was again forming an Administration, that Henry Labouchere was not included solely because Queen Victoria refused her sanction. In the remoter past there are instances of the Sovereign not merely vetoing an appointment, but also of making one. But when George IV attempted to appoint Herries in 1827 Chancellor of the Exchequer, objection was successfully maintained. By modern usage, therefore, the position may be said to be that the Sovereign has the right to veto an appointment, but not to make one.
The Administration having been completely formed, a day is appointed by the King for taking leave of the outgoing Ministers, and receiving the incoming Ministers, at meetings of the Privy Council. The customary procedure is for the Clerk of the Council to collect all the seals of office from the various Departments beforehand and take them to Buckingham Palace for the ceremony. Only certain Ministers hold seals as insignia of office. The retiring Prime Minister has no seal to hand over, even though he may also hold, as he usually does, the office of First Lord of the Treasury; and therefore the new Prime Minister has none to receive. The Ministers having seals of office are the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Privy Seal, the five Secretaries of State—Home Department, Foreign Affairs, Colonies, War, and India (all of whom are constitutionally of co-equal and co-ordinate authority, and fully authorized to transact, if need be, each other’s business)—the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and the Secretary for Scotland.
The seals of office are sets of three seals, each made of metal, known respectively as the signet, the smaller seal, and the cachet. It is only at the Foreign Office that full use is made of the three. The signet is affixed to instruments for the ratification of treaties. The smaller seal is used for Royal Warrants countersigned by the Secretary. The cachet is used for the purpose of sealing letters sent by the King to Foreign Sovereigns on matters of State. Two seals only are used at the Colonial Office, the signet and the smaller seal; while at the Home Office and the India Office the smaller seal is used for all purposes. All the seals bear the Royal Arms, but have no image or device appropriate to the office of which each is the symbol. Each Minister receives the seals of his office enclosed in a velvet case from the King. No doubt curiosity impels him to examine the seals on that great day when he enters office, but he probably never sees them again until that other notable day when he quits office by handing the seals back to the King.