In November 2003, Lord Falconer of Thoroton sent Tony Blair a minute recommending that the Lord Chancellor's ecclesiastiastical patronage should be transferred to the Church when the office was abolished. 1/3 cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

@gro-tsen.bsky.social In light of our conversation about the lack of punctuation in Letters Patent, you might find this interesting. Here's an instrument that has had punctuation and paragraph breaks added, presumably for readability. You can see the whole thing here: cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

Today, the Archbishop of Canterbury did homage for the temporalities of her See. Afterward, the King signed a Warrant like this one directing the Lord Chancellor to pass the necessary instruments under the Great Seal. 1/2

I guess the legislative solution isn't too difficult after all... Of course, if they're going to do this for Mandelson, they should probably do it for Andrew, too. Last year's fudge seems increasingly untenable.

Awkward [PREM 5/595/1].

The CBAI includes a number of documents relating to the confirmation of episcopal elections including the Public Notice regarding the confirmation of Hugh Nelson's election as Bishop of Worcester. 1/3 cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

First page of the Vicar-General of Canterbury's judgment dismissing an objection to the confirmation of Sarah Mullally's election as Bishop of London. For the full document, see the CBAI record: cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

Yesterday, I posted the text of a Royal Letter summoning a peer to a Coronation, but the Monarch could also dispense with a peer's attendance. For more information, check out the CBAI record: cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

Transcript of a Royal Letter summoning the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough to the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The tone is rather peremptory ("Whereof you and she are not to fail"). For more information, check out the CBAI entry: cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

I find it baffling that HM Ambassador to The Hague thought that Comic Sans was the best choice here (PREM 49/3049).

After deciding to give Lord Irvine of Lairg the sack, No. 10 debated what to do with him afterward. One option was to make him a senior judge of the European Court of Justice ("Derry could learn French between now and October"). Another was to let him sit as a Law Lord. 1/2

First page of a Commission for the custody of the Great Seal from 1979. Unlike subsequent examples, it entrusts the Great Seal to specific individuals rather than the holders of certain offices. It's also largely handwritten even though it's unlikely to have been displayed. 1/2

Happy New Year! 🎉

Submission asking John Major to approve the text of birthday greetings for members of the Royal Family. Other documents make it clear that the Princess Royal would have received a greeting as well, but it has been redacted under the FOIA (PREM 49/4667).

Cabinet ministers must obtain the Prime Minister's permission before traveling abroad. Here's a request from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport along with No. 10's reply. Note that it also gave permission to miss Cabinet. 1/2

Memorandum from the Department for Constitutional Affairs dated May 4, 2005 regarding the handling of official business during Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Canada. It shows the limited role played by Counsellors of State (PREM 49/4325).

Letter from the Palace stating that Queen Elizabeth II had given Tony Blair permission to leave the UK for the purpose of visiting the US from June 6-7, 2005 (PREM 49/4237).

Letter granting the Lord Chancellor the Queen's permission to leave the UK. This is noteworthy because in 1980 the Queen had issued Letters Patent granting "leave to Our Chancellor to be absent from Our United Kingdom from time to time during Our Pleasure" (LCO 6/3932). 1/2

Royal Warrant of Queen Victoria granting the Lord High Steward of Ireland permission to carry a white wand of office. cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

The Ecclesiastical Licenses Act 1533 gave the Archbishop of Canterbury the power to issue dispensations that were previously granted by the Curia. This Lambeth Degree is an example of this power being used today. 1/2 cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

The Corpus of British Administrative Instruments now has 500 entries! 🎉 cbaionline.org/corpus/

Yesterday I shared the Royal Warrant and Letters Patent that formalized Andrew's loss of royal status. Today: my analysis of their numerous drafting anomalies, evidence of Whitehall's increasingly fuzzy grasp of constitutional minutiae. venerablepuzzle.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/t...

CBAI entry: cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

CBAI entry: cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

Royal Warrant directing the Secretary of State to remove the Duke of York from the Roll of the Peerage. Note that, instead of the King's full signature, he simply wrote "Appd CR" like it was a submission.

Letters Patent removing the style of "Royal Highness" and titular dignity of "Prince" from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. It has a number of drafting issues such as omitting the hyphen in his surname.

At one time, the Lord Privy Seal received Letters Patent upon appointment, though precisely when this custom ended has been something of a mystery. However, I may have finally found the answer. venerablepuzzle.wordpress.com/2025/11/26/a...

Text of a Royal Warrant of Edward VIII granting arms and supporters to South Australia. This was the only grant he made during his brief reign (CBAI 439).

Recently added to the Corpus of British Administrative Instruments: King George V's Warrant directing the Earl Marshal to place the Duke of Kent in the House of Lords. cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

Recently added to the Corpus of British Administrative Instruments: A Royal Warrant of King George V granting the title of "Captain" to the Elder Brethren of Trinity House and giving them precedence after Captains of the Royal Navy. cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

Recently added to the Corpus of British Administrative Instruments: The Royal Warrant for passing Letters Patent under the Great Seal for conferring a baronetcy on Denis Thatcher. To date, this is the most recent baronetcy to be created. cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

Recently added to the Corpus of British Administrative Instruments: Statute of the Order of the Garter allowing the appointment of Lady Companions. cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

Is Andrew still the Duke of York? Legally yes, officially no. My new post explores the ambiguous nature of being removed from the Roll of the Peerage. venerablepuzzle.wordpress.com/2025/11/06/a...

We may never see the instruments removing Andrew from the Order of the Garter and the Royal Victorian Order. They were likely prepared and countersigned by officers of the relevant Orders without passing through the Crown Office. 1/2

Recently added to the Corpus of British Administrative Instruments: Queen Elizabeth II's Letters Patent granting the titular dignity of Prince to the Duke of Edinburgh. cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

Recently added to the Corpus of British Administrative Instruments: Queen Elizabeth II's 1960 Declaration stating that certain of her descendants would bear the name of "Mountbatten-Windsor." cbaionline.org/corpus/items...

I've been working on a curated collection of Letters Patent, Royal Warrants, Ministerial Submissions, and similar material called the Corpus of British Administrative Instruments. 1/2 cbaionline.org/corpus/

As the Palace announces that the King has initiated a process to remove Prince Andrew's titles, his name has already disappeared from the Roll of the Peerage. But what, exactly, does that mean? venerablepuzzle.wordpress.com/2025/10/30/e...

The Lord Chancellor makes a number of ecclesiastical appointments including presentations to Crown benefices valued at less than £20 in The King's Book. Here's what an instrument of appointment to one of these benefices looks like. 1/3

Becoming Archbishop of Canterbury used to be an expensive proposition. Edward White Benson had to pay a total of £885/5/6. According to The National Archives' currency converter, that is the equivalent of approximately £58,591.66! 1/2

After the King approves the Prime Minister's submission recommending Sarah Mullally, the Crown Office will prepare a Warrant to pass a congé d'élire under the Great Seal authorizing the College of Canons to elect a new Archbishop. 1/17

Many of us saw Penny Mordaunt preside over the Accession Council. But was she actually Lord President? This post unpacks the constitutional ambiguity behind her role, and why it matters. venerablepuzzle.wordpress.com/2025/09/16/a...

The Docquet Book is a record of instruments prepared by the Crown Office, including Letters Patent, Warrants of Appointment, Proclamations, and Writs of Summons. Here are some recent entries I received via a FOI request (it's oddly formatted because that's how I received it). 1/6

The office copy of the submission for Lord Wright's appointment as Master of the Rolls notes that it was submitted to King George V unsigned "after an explanation by Sir Claud [Schuster] over the telephone, the Lord Chancellor not being available" [LCO 6/918].

Summons to a meeting of the Privy Council for the purpose of swearing-in new Ministers. [PREM 49/2130].

Correspondence with the Palace regarding Augustus Andrewes Uthwatt's appointment as a High Court Justice, including the informal advice, the reply from the King's Private Secretary, and the formal submission [LCO 6/1582].

The precedence clause in a baronet's patent of creation used to contain an almost comical number of provisos and caveats. That language was simplified in the later 19th century, and the current form of the patent trimmed it even further. 1/2

These were the Confessor's duties in the 18th century. This is taken from William Lovegrove's manuscript about the Chapel Royal which is published in vol. 2 of The Cheque Books of the Chapel Royal edited by Andrew Ashbee and John Harley. 1/2

Transcript of a Sign-Manual Warrant from 1761 ordering the Sub-Dean of the Chapels Royal to admit David Walter Morgan to the office of Confessor of His Majesty's Household and Priest-in-Ordinary of the Chapels Royal [SP 44/157 f.49]. 1/3

Sign-Manual Warrant for the appointment of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Because the resulting patent would pass the seals of the Duchy and County Palatine, the Warrant is addressed to the Duchy's Attorney General and Clerk instead of the English Law Officers [SP 44/375 f.53].