The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 ( 17 & 18 Geo. 5. c. 4) was an act of 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 ...

that authorised the alteration of the British monarch's royal style and titles, and altered the formal name of the British Parliament and hence of the state, in recognition of most of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

separating from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

as the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

. It 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 ...

on 12 April 1927.

Background to the act

As a result of the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

, in December 1922 most of

was detached from the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...

to become the

. However, six north-eastern

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

, all within

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

, remained united with

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The King's title, proclaimed under the Royal Titles Act 1901, was:

"George V, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith,
Emperor of India Emperor (or Empress) of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948 Royal Proclamation of 22 June 1948, made in accordance with thIndian Independence Act 1947, 10 & 11 GEO. 6. CH ...
"''Imperial Conference, 1926: Summary of Proceedings'' Cmd 2768, p. 15 (London: HMSO, 1926).

At the

1926 Imperial Conference The 1926 Imperial Conference was the fifth Imperial Conference bringing together the prime ministers of the Dominions of the British Empire. It was held in London from 19 October to 23 November 1926. The conference was notable for producing the ...

, it was agreed by the Imperial government at

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

and those of the various

Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

s that the existing royal style and titles of their shared monarch "hardly accorded with the altered state of affairs arising from the establishment of the Irish Free State as a Dominion". The Conference concluded that the wording should be changed to:

"George V, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India"

Under the existing constitutional arrangements of the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire The B ...

, it was necessary for legislation to be enacted by the

in order for the royal style and titles to be altered; the resulting Act would then extend automatically into the law of the various Dominions. The British Government introduced the necessary bill into 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 ...

in March 1927 and easily secured its passage through both Houses of Parliament.

Provisions of the act

The act contained three substantive provisions. Firstly, the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

was authorised to issue a

royal proclamation A proclamation (Lat. ''proclamare'', to make public by announcement) is an official declaration issued by a person of authority to make certain announcements known. Proclamations are currently used within the governing framework of some nations ...

within six months of the act's passing, authorising him to alter the royal style and titles. Following the precedent set by similar legislation in the past, the act did not itself set out the form of the new style and titles that were to be adopted. Secondly, the act formally renamed the parliament sitting at

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

from "Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" to "Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Finally, the act established that the term "United Kingdom", when used in "every Act f Parliamentpassed and public document issued after the passing of this Act", would mean

and

(unless the context required otherwise). A royal proclamation was subsequently issued under the terms of the act on 13 May 1927. The proclamation followed the recommendation of the Imperial Conference by altering 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 ...

and English forms of the existing royal style and titles, the former by replacing "" with "", and the latter by replacing "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of" with "Great Britain, Ireland and". The

Great Seal of the Realm The Great Seal of the Realm is a seal that is used in the United Kingdom to symbolise the sovereign's approval of state documents. It is also known as the Great Seal of the United Kingdom (known prior to the Treaty of Union of 1707 as the Gr ...

and

Great Seal of Scotland The Great Seal of Scotland (; also the Scottish Seal; formally the Seal appointed by the Treaty of Union to be kept and made use of in place of the Great Seal of Scotland) is a seal used by the first minister of Scotland to seal letters pate ...

were replaced to update the change of royal style. The new designs by Percy Metcalfe were delivered at a Privy Council meeting on 27 October 1930.

Subsequent developments

Over the next quarter of the century the relationship between the various members of the Commonwealth continued to evolve. In particular, the outcome of the 1930 Imperial Conference (and the resultant

Statute of Westminster 1931 The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that significantly increased the autonomy of the Dominions of the British Commonwealth. Passed on 11 December 1931, the statute increased the sovereignty of t ...

), the formal declaration by the Irish state of its republican status and its consequent secession, as the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, from the Commonwealth, and the request by

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

that it remain a member of the Commonwealth despite adopting a republican constitution, all altered both the nature and composition of the Commonwealth. The royal style and titles were altered in 1948, to reflect the independence of

the previous year by omitting the title "

Emperor of India Emperor (or Empress) of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948 Royal Proclamation of 22 June 1948, made in accordance with thIndian Independence Act 1947, 10 & 11 GEO. 6. CH ...

". However, the accession of a new monarch (

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

) in 1952 was taken as an opportunity to completely alter both the form of the style and titles, and the manner in which they would be legislated for; henceforth, each

Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations that has the same constitutional monarch and head of state as the other realms. The current monarch is King Charles III. Except for the United Kingdom, in each of the re ...

would pass its own legislation establishing its own version of the style and titles. The resulting legislation for the United Kingdom and its dependencies was the Royal Titles Act 1953. The reference to "Ireland" in the royal style and title was not changed to "Northern Ireland" until May 1953.

References

External links

Royal Arms, Styles, and Titles of Great Britain: Documents
br />(Full text of the 1927 Act and royal proclamation) {{Commonwealth of Nations key documents United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1927 History of the Commonwealth of Nations Titles in the United Kingdom 1927 in the British Empire April 1927 in the United Kingdom Monarchy in the Irish Free State Style of the British sovereign Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning the British Royal Family

Background to the act

Provisions of the act

Subsequent developments

See also

References

External links