(i.e., Secret Council), as at present constituted, is an assembly of natural-born subjects of Great Britain, unlimited in number, appointed by the will of the sovereign, on whose nomination, after taking the prescriptive oath, the appointment is completed. The dissolution of the Privy Council, or the dismissal of an individual member,—as of the erasure of his name from the council-book by the sovereign,—depends upon the Queen's pleasure. The duration of the council is naturally during the life of the sovereign; but it is now continued for six months further, by 6 Anne, c. 7, unless dissolved by the successor. The present usage is for every privy councillor in one reign to be re-sworn at the commencement of the next. From the original twelve members who for centuries managed the most delicate state affairs, the Privy Council was afterwards inconveniently increased. Charles II. attempted to limit it to thirty members; but it was found too divided and too extensive for an effective state council, and was soon abandoned. The Privy Council now generally includes the members of the royal family, the archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishop of London, the great officers of state, the lord chancellor, and the judges of the courts of equity, the chief justices of the courts of common law, the ecclesiastical and admiralty judges, and the judge advocate; since 1843 some of the puisne judges to assist in the business of the judicial committee; also the speaker of the House of Commons, the ambassadors, with many of the ministers plenipotentiary and some of the governors of the principal colonies, the commander-in-chief, the master-general of the ordnance, the first lord, with usually a junior lord, of the Admiralty, and the members of the cabinet. There are likewise several offices with which a seat in the Privy Council is conferred,—as the vice-president of the Board of Trade, the paymaster of the forces, and the newly-created offices of president of the Poor-Law Board and president of the Board of Health. There is in no case either salary or emolument attached to the office.

The duty of a privy councillor, as defined by the oath, is to advise according to his best discretion for the Queen's honour and the public good; to keep the Queen's council secret; to avoid corruption; to help and strengthen that which shall be resolved; to withstand attempts to the contrary; and to do all that a true counsellor should for his sovereign. Some of the royal family are not sworn; they are merely introduced.

A considerable proportion of the business of the Privy Council is transacted by committees of council, such as the Cabinet Council, the Judicial Committee, the Board of Quarantine, the Court of Claims, the Board of Trade, the Judicial Committee of Council, and the Committee of Council on Education. Meetings of the council are held at intervals of three or four weeks at her Majesty's residence, when her Majesty is attended by her ministers and the officers of state. What is done by the Privy Council when the Queen is personally present, are said to be "acts of the Queen in council." The council collectively is styled "Her Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council;" and the members individually are entitled to the prefix of "Right Honourable." They rank next after the knights of the Garter; and on taking out his dedimus, the privy councillor has the right of acting as a magistrate of any county. (See Murray's Official Hand-Book; and Warren's Blackstone's Commentaries, c. xxi.)