The Parliamentary Role of the Royal Household

Abstract

This article outlines the changing relationship between the royal household and Parliament since 1603 and indicates which officers of the household had seats in the two Houses. It shows how the status of certain of these officers evolved from that of servants of the monarch to that of members of the government and how their existence enabled governments to develop functions for which it would otherwise have been difficult to make provision, notably in the field of parliamentary whipping. (The article is a revised version of a paper presented at the Society for Court Studies conference on the Palace of Westminster held on 4–5 October 2007.)