' ("The King wills it", Modern French ''Le Roi le veut'') or ' ("The Queen wills it", Modern French ''La Reine le veut'') is a Norman French phrase used in the Parliament of the United Kingdom 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. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...

(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 whi ...

) 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 of the United Kingdom. It is a legacy of the time prior to 1488 when parliamentary and judicial business was conducted in French, the language of the educated classes dating to the Norman Conquest of 1066. It is one of a small number of Norman French phrases that continue to be used in the course of parliamentary procedure. Variations of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and modern French translations of the phrase are also used in the

ceremony used in the

Canadian Parliament The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, th ...

. Norman French is not used.

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 parlia ...

in the House of Lords. It is only used after the Lord Chancellor, accompanied by the

Lords Commissioners The Lords Commissioners are privy counsellors appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom to exercise, on his or her behalf, certain functions relating to Parliament which would otherwise require the monarch's attendance at the Palace of Wes ...

, has read out the letters patent for the bill. The

Clerk of the Crown A Clerk of the Crown is a clerk who usually works for a monarch or such royal head of state. The term is mostly used in the United Kingdom to refer to the office of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, though the office has undergone different title ...

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 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 called Dog Latin, is a form of Latin used in legal contexts. While some of the vocabulary does come from Latin, many of the words and much of the vocabulary stem from English. L ...

euphemism '/' ("The King/Queen will consider

he matter He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

), would be used, though no British monarch has used this veto power since Queen Anne on the

Scottish Militia Bill The Scottish Militia Bill 1708 (known formerly as the Scotch Militia Bill) was a bill that was passed by the House of Commons and House of Lords of the Parliament of Great Britain in early 1708. However, on 11 March 1708, Queen Anne withheld r ...

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. Con ...

, an alternative phrase is used; ''/'' ("The King/Queen thanks her/his 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. Norman French came to be used as the standard language of the educated classes and of the law, though Latin continued to be used alongside it. The work of the Parliament of England was conducted entirely in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

until the latter part of Edward III's reign (1327–1377) and

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 French. 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 (13th century – 1800). During the period of the Protectorate, when the Lord Protector ( Oliver Cromwell and later his son Richard Cromwell) governed the country, assent was given in English. The old practice of giving assent in Norman French was resumed following the

English Restoration The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to b ...

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