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The King’s Great Seal of the Realm has been unveiled.
The Great Seal is the symbol of Sovereign authority and is traditionally affixed to State documents.
Each Monarch has their own, unique Great Seal.
King Charles recently approved the new Great Seal of the Realm and the Counter Seal at a meeting of the Privy Council.
His Majesty then entrusted it into the custody of the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.
The Great Seal of the Realm bears an engraving of King Charles III seated on a throne. On the reverse are the Royal Arms, designed by Heraldic artist, Timothy Noad.
It was struck by the Royal Mint which has been carrying out this important work on the Great Seal for years.
The new Great Seal of the Realm marks the final part of the transition to the reign of King Charles III. It is traditional for the old Great Seal of the Realm to be struck with a hammer by the Monarch in front of the Privy Council to show its destruction. All Great Seals of the Realm are kept, after this symbolic act, for historical record.
The use of a Great Seal goes back to the reign of King Edward the Confessor who began using one to show that he had approved a document to which it was attached. Legend has it that King James II tried to destroy the Great Seal of England as he fled the country in 1688 after being forced from the throne.
The Great Seal will be attached to all documents of state requiring the Monarch’s authorisation.
