Private Secretary to the Sovereign
| Private Secretary to the Sovereign | |
|---|---|
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| Royal Household | |
| Style | The Kings Private Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (within the Empire) |
| Member of | Privy Council |
| Reports to | The Sovereign |
| Seat | Buckingham Palace |
| Nominator | The Sovereign |
| Appointer | The Sovereign |
| Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
| Salary | £10,000 per cycle (March 2024) |
The Private Secretary to the Sovereign is the senior operational member of the Royal Household, primarily serving as the principal channel of communication between the Monarch and the government of their various realms. Furthermore, they hold responsibility for the official correspondence of the Royal Household and, at times, can be considered the principal, leading member of the Household itself. It is one of the most senior positions in the Royal Household.
The private secretary also holds the ceremonial position of First Clerk of the Green Cloth within the Royal Household, and traditionally is a sitting member on the Privy Council. In regards to the latter, some Private Secretaries also concurrently held positions such as Lord Chamberlain of the Privy Council, and more recently, Lord High Steward. Some Lord Chamberlains were never styled as Private Secretaries but may have very well served to that effect, but as a result are not listed here. This was most apparent during the reign of William V, and as such dates are prone to error. The first definitive stint of a Private Secretary in its modern form was that of Miann Somerset, then the Earl of Lothian, who served as the Private Secretary of Elizabeth III for almost the entirety of her reign. Her successor, Edward IX, never had a Private Secretary, with the Prince of Wales taking on the administrative duties. Upon the Prince of Wales accession to the throne in March 2024, Thomas Carew served as Private Secretary, doing so for the entirety of the reign of Charles III, and, for the first year of the region of George VII. He resigned in January 2026, upon his elevation to Prince of the Realm. He was succeeded by Philip Somerset. He held a place in the Privy Council by virtue of being its Clerk: Carew, his predecessor, remained as Lord High Steward.
The foundations of the position are unknown, with X being the first Private Secretary. The current Private Secretary to the Sovereign is Philip Somerset, who has held the position since 2 January 2026.
Private Secretaries to the Sovereign
| Portrait | Private Secretary | Start | End | Duration | Sovereign |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remile Talleyrand | 13 November 2020 | 23 June 2021 | 223 days | William V | |
| Anish Reddy | 1 day | William V | |||
| Horatio Nelson The Baron Sydney |
1 day | William V | |||
|
Andrew Wright The Baron Belgrave |
1 October 2021 | 4 May 2022 | 172 days | William V |
|
Miann Somerset The Earl of Lothian |
1 October 2022 | 26 February 2023 | 149 days | Elizabeth III |
|
Thomas Carew The Duke of Devonshire |
1 March 2024 | 1 January 2026 | 1 year, 307 days | Charles III |
| George VII | |||||
|
Philip Somerset | 2 January 2026 | Present | 46 days | George VII |