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Ministries:: Ministro de La Corona) Was Used For A Person Who Was in Charge of A

The document discusses the history and roles of Ministers of the Crown in Commonwealth realms. It explains that Ministers of the Crown advise and implement decisions for the sovereign or viceroy. Over time, as colonies gained independence, each dominion established its own Privy Council and cabinet of Ministers to advise the local governor general rather than the British government. Now, Ministers can only advise on matters within their own realm.

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15 views1 page

Ministries:: Ministro de La Corona) Was Used For A Person Who Was in Charge of A

The document discusses the history and roles of Ministers of the Crown in Commonwealth realms. It explains that Ministers of the Crown advise and implement decisions for the sovereign or viceroy. Over time, as colonies gained independence, each dominion established its own Privy Council and cabinet of Ministers to advise the local governor general rather than the British government. Now, Ministers can only advise on matters within their own realm.

Uploaded by

Ryan Onell
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Ministries[edit]

In Commonwealth realms, the sovereign or viceroy is formally advised by a larger body known as
a privy council or executive council, though, in practice, they are advised by a subset of such
councils: the collective body of ministers of the Crown called the ministry. The ministry should not
be confused with the cabinet, as ministers of the Crown may be outside a cabinet. In the UK,
ministers are the MPs and members of the House of Lords who are in the government.[1]

History[edit]
Ministers of the Crown in Commonwealth realms have their roots in early modern England,
where monarchs sometimes employed "cabinet councils" consisting of Ministers to advise the
monarch and implemented his decisions. The term Minister came into being as the sovereign's
advisors "ministered to", or served, the king. Over time, former ministers and other distinguished
persons were retained as peripheral advisers with designated ministers having the direct ear of
the king. This led to the creation of the larger Privy Council, with the Cabinet becoming a
committee within that body, made up of currently serving Ministers, who also were heads of
departments.
During a period between the accession of King James VI of Scotland to the throne of England in
1603 and the unification of Scotland and England in 1707, the two entities were separate
"countries" in personal union through the one monarch who was advised by two separate sets of
Ministers of the Crown for each country.
As the English overseas possessions and later British Empire expanded, the colonial
governments remained subordinate to the imperial government at Westminster, and thus the
Crown was still ministered to only by the Imperial Privy Council, made up of British Ministers of
the Crown. When Canada became a Dominion in 1867, however, a separate Canadian Privy
Council was established to advise the Canadian Governor General on the exercise of the Crown
prerogative in Canada, although constitutionally the viceroy remained an agent of the British
government at Whitehall. After that date, other colonies of the empire attained Dominion status
and similar arrangements were made.
Following the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, however, the dominions became
effectively autonomous kingdoms under one sovereign, thus returning the monarch to a position
similar to that which existed pre-1707, where he or she was ministered to by separate ministries
and cabinets for each respective realm or colony. Thus, today, no Minister of the Crown in any
Commonwealth realm can advise the monarch to exercise any powers pertaining to any of the
other dominions.

Uses in other countries[edit]


In Spain, during the "Restauración" period (1874-1931) the term Minister of the Crown (Spanish:
Ministro de la Corona) was used for a person who was in charge of a ministerial department of
His Majesty's Government. For example, during the reign of King Alfonso XIII, when Carlos
María Cortezo y Prieto de Orche was appointed as "Ministro de Instrucción Pública y Bellas
Artes" (minister of education), in the royal decree it was noted that he was a minister of the
Crown.[2]

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