The privy council is the kind of official body you are unlikely to hear much about in normal circumstances. However, the process of the proclamation of a new sovereign – as took place on Saturday – is certainly enough to grab the public’s attention.

That duty falls to the accession council, which is a ceremonial body made up of privy council members as well as certain other dignitaries, including the lord mayor of London, high commissioners and acting high commissioners of the realms. Only privy counsellors attend the second part of the accession, which on this occasion essentially doubled as King Charles III’s first privy council meeting.

The history of the privy council – which is essentially a group of advisers to the monarch – is long: it is said to date back to the 13th century, although the power and influence it held began to decline in the 17th and 18th centuries as the cabinet gained more political authority.