To kiss hands is a constitutional term used in the United Kingdom to refer to the formal installation of the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

or other Crown-appointed government ministers to their office.Torrance, David. ''How Is a Prime Minister Appointed?'' House of Commons Library, 20 Oct. 2022, https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/how-is-a-prime-minister-appointed/.Torrance, David. ''The Crown and the Constitution''. House of Commons Library, 14 Nov. 2023, https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8885/CBP-8885.pdf. Page 39/70. Accessed 27 May 2024.

Overview

In the past, the term referred to the requirement that the office-holder actually kiss the hands of 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 ...

as a symbol of personal fealty and loyalty, that fealty and loyalty being a requirement to serve in the King's or Queen's government. In modern times, office-holders are not expected to physically kiss the hands of the monarch before assuming the role, neither at this ceremony nor at any other point in the process of installing a new office-holder. Simply being received by the monarch is taken to validate the selection, with this meeting being described in the

Court Circular The Court Circular is the official record that lists the engagements carried out by the monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms; the royal family; and appointments to their staff and to the court. It is issued by St James ...

as "kissing hands". The invitation issued to a party leader to form a government is sometimes still described as "an invitation to kiss hands". The metaphorical kissing of hands (i.e. the appointment) does not legally take place until the subsequent meeting of the Privy Council, when the new minister is formally appointed as a member of the Council. When appointing a Secretary of State (the top rank in the

UK government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

), the protocol also involves the delivery by the King or Queen of the seals of office into the hands of the appointee. This is also valid for other officers who are keepers of seals, such as the Lord Privy Seal or 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 ...

, who is also keeper of the Great Seal of the United Kingdom.

History

The ceremony usually takes place in

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

, but it has been known to happen in

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

or Balmoral Castle. More unusually, in April 1908,

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

summoned H. H. Asquith out of the country to the Hôtel du Palais, Biarritz, France, where the King was on holiday at the time. In his autobiography,

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

recalled being confused by the fact that the ceremony did not involve literally kissing Queen

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. ...

's hands, being instead told to "brush them he handsgently with your lips". When he was ushered into the room to meet the Queen, Blair tripped on a piece of carpet and fell onto the Queen's hands. Due to the failing health of Elizabeth II, the 2022 kissing hands ceremony of

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth da ...

took place at Balmoral, where the ailing Queen was spending her final days, marking the only time in her 70-year reign that the ceremony did not take place at Buckingham Palace. It was the Queen's last official act before her death two days later. This was the first time the ceremony took place at Balmoral since 1885, when

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903), known as Lord Salisbury, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United ...

began his first stint as prime minister.

Overview

History

See also

References

Further reading