' (, "The King wills it") or ' (, "The Queen wills it") is a

Norman French Norman or Norman French (, , Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a '' langue d'oïl'' spoken in the historical and cultural region of Normandy. The name "Norman French" is sometimes also used to describe the administrative languages of '' Angl ...

phrase used in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

to signify that a

public bill Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. A private bill is a proposal for a law affecting only a single person, group, or ar ...

, including a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

, has received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

from the

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

. During the Anglo-Norman rule of England, the kings were titled ''Roy'', ''Roi'', ''Rey'', ''Rei'' and the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, all meaning "King". Usage of this phrase is a legacy of the time prior to 1488 when parliamentary and judicial business was conducted in Norman, the language of the educated classes dating to the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

of 1066. It is one of a small number of Norman phrases that continue to be used in the course of parliamentary procedure.

Usage

The phrase is used to signify that the monarch has granted his or her royal assent to a bill in order to make it become law. It is used by the

Clerk of the Parliaments The Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The position has existed since at least 1315, and duties include preparing the minutes of Lords proceedings, advising on proper parli ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. It is only used after the

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

, accompanied by the

Lords Commissioners The Lords Commissioners are Privy Council of the United Kingdom, privy counsellors appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom to exercise, on his or her behalf, certain functions relating to Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament whic ...

, has read out the

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

for the bill. The Clerk of the Crown then reads out the short title of the bill and the Clerk of the Parliaments responds by saying the phrase towards the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at the bar of the House for each bill. The phrase is also written on the paper of the bill to show that the monarch granted royal assent to the bill. Should royal assent be withheld, the expression ', "The King/Queen will advise him/her self" (i.e., will take the bill under advisement), a paraphrase of the

Law Latin Law Latin, sometimes written L.L. or L. Lat., and sometimes derisively referred to as Dog Latin, is a form of Latin used in legal contexts. While some of the vocabulary does come from Latin, much of it stems from English. Law Latin may also be see ...

euphemism '/' ("The King/Queen will consider he matter), would be used, though no British monarch has used this

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...

power since Queen Anne on the Scottish Militia Bill in 1708. For a

supply bill In the Westminster system (and, colloquially, in the United States), a money bill or supply bill is a bill that solely concerns taxation or government spending (also known as appropriation of money), as opposed to changes in public law. Conv ...

, an alternative phrase is used; ''/'' ("The King/Queen thanks his/her good subjects, accepts their bounty, and wills it so"). For a personal bill (e.g. Handel's Naturalisation Act 1727), the phrase ' ("Let it be done as it is desired") is used.

History

The practice of giving royal assent originated in the early days of Parliament to signify that the king intended for something to be made law.

came to be used as the standard language of the educated classes and of the law, though

continued to be used alongside it. The work of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

was conducted entirely in French until the latter part of Edward III's reign (1327–1377) and English was only rarely used before the reign of Henry VI (1422–1461, 1470–1471). Royal assent was occasionally given in English, though more usually in the traditional Norman French fashion. The practice of recording parliamentary statutes in French or Latin ceased by 1488 and statutes have been published in English ever since. The phrase ''Le Roy le veult'' was also used in the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...

(13th century – 1800). During the period of

the Protectorate The Protectorate, officially the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, was the English form of government lasting from 16 December 1653 to 25 May 1659, under which the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotl ...

, when the

Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') is a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometime ...

(

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

and later his son

Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who served as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1658 to 1659. He was the son of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell. Following his father ...

) governed the country, assent was given in English. The old practice of giving assent in Norman French was resumed following the

English Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

in 1660 and has continued ever since. There has only been one attempt to abolish it, when the

passed a bill in 1706 "for abolishing the use of the French tongue in all proceedings in Parliament and courts of justice". The bill failed to pass the

. Although the use of French in courts was abolished in 1731, Parliamentary practice was unaffected.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reyne le veult, La French words and phrases French legal terminology Parliamentary procedure Parliament of the United Kingdom