“There we were, 16 grown men,” complained the Labour minister Richard Crossman on joining the Privy Council in 1964:

For over an hour we were taught how to stand up, how to kneel on one knee on a cushion, how to raise the right hand with the bible in it, how to advance three paces towards the Queen, how to take the hand and kiss it, how to move back 10 paces without falling over the stools – which had been carefully arranged so that you did fall over them. 

Ministerial memoirs have left us with many similar accounts, but the reference to kissing the monarch’s hand has caused a degree of confusion. “Is such kissing a mandatory or only a directory requirement”, asked Geoffrey Marshall of those becoming Privy Counsellors, although the same question could be applied to incoming Prime Ministers and senior Cabinet ministers. This post is an attempt to provide some clarity. 

Privy Counsellors

Upon appointment to the Privy Council, Privy Counsellors are required to swear or affirm the statutory Oath of Allegiance and the non-statutory Privy Council Oath. Both oaths are “administered” (i.e., read to the appointee). First is the Oath of Allegiance (as provided for in section 2 of the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 and applied to new Privy Counsellors somewhat indirectly via section 14), which is administered while the new Counsellor kneels (on their right knee) on a red footstool and holds (if swearing) a copy of the New Testament (or another religious text) in their right hand. 

According to the Tory diarist Alan Clark and others, those swearing or affirming then advance “about ten feet diagonally to another stool” for the kissing of hands. According to the Royal Encyclopaedia, the monarch then “proffers [their] right hand, palm downwards with fingers lightly closed”. The new Privy Counsellor or minister (see below) will then “extend his or her right hand, palm upwards and, taking the [King’s] hand lightly, will kiss it with no more than a touch of the lips”. Anything more, adds another published account, “would be deemed inappropriate”.

Several witnesses have referred to this as a “brushing” of the monarch’s hand with their lips rather than an actual kiss. “It was a small, cool hand”, recalled the Conservative MP Sir Wyn Roberts, “and I found the experience very moving.” Those being introduced then stand up for the non-statutory Privy Council Oath to be administered. After saying “I do”, new Privy Counsellors shake hands with their monarch. 

Prime Ministers

These days, an incoming Prime Minister will in most cases already be a member of the Privy Council (Sir Keir Starmer joined in 2017) so will not need to kiss hands in this capacity. But here, considerable confusion arises, largely on account of Sir Tony Blair (both fictional and real). In the 2006 movie The Queen starring Helen Mirren, Blair (as played by the actor Michael Sheen) physically kneels to kiss the monarch’s hand on becoming Prime Minister following the 1997 general election. 

In his autobiography, meanwhile, Blair recalls being confused when a courtier told him:

‘you don’t actually kiss the Queen’s hands in the ceremony of kissing hands. You brush them gently with your lips.’ I confess that floored me. What on earth did he mean? Brush them as in a pair of shoes, or touch them lightly? While I was still temporarily disconcerted, the door opened and I was ushered in, unfortunately tripping a little on a piece of carpet so that I practically fell upon the Queen’s hands, not so much brushing as enveloping them.

It is an entertaining story, but it seems likely Sir Tony was conflating his appointment as Prime Minister, at which no hands are literally kissed, with his subsequent swearing as First Lord of the Treasury (see below), at which they are. 

Other Prime Ministerial memoirists are quite clear that there is no physical kissing of hands upon appointment. In 1964, Harold Wilson noted his surprise that “contrary to all I had understood about the procedures, there was no formal kissing of hands”; Sir John Major noted that the phrase was “traditional and outdated – the Queen’s hand is not kissed”; Gordon Brown that “Contrary to myth, the Queen and her prime minister do not ‘kiss hands’: they shake hands”; and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton that “no hands are actually kissed”. This seems conclusive.  

On 5 July 2024 the Court Circular recorded that Sir Keir Starmer had accepted the King’s request to form a new administration “and kissed hands upon his appointment”. A Buckingham Palace press release, however, clarified that “This is not literally the case and simply denotes the type of Audience.” This is not terribly helpful, as there are some audiences which take place upon an appointment which do not include any reference to “kissing hands”. The Palace also maintains that an individual is simultaneously appointed Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, although in the case of Sir Keir Starmer, the necessary Letters Patent (for the latter office) are dated 16 July, 11 days after he “kissed hands”.

Writing in 1997, Geoffrey Marshall tentatively suggested “that Prime Ministerial hand-kissing is withering or has withered away”. We can now be more certain: it has ceased, perhaps around a century ago. In 1905 Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman tried but failed to kiss King Edward VII’s hand, while in 1908 H. H. Asquith told his wife he had “knelt down and kissed [the King’s] hand” upon his appointment in Biarritz, France.  

Ministers

An archived version of the Royal Family website stated that for a new Prime Minister “the actual kissing of hands will take place later, in Council”.

This was a reference to the requirement (again under the Promissory Oaths Act 1868) for a new Prime Minister to swear or affirm a statutory Oath of Office as First Lord of the Treasury (rather than as Prime Minister). The oath is in section 3 of the 1868 Act. Under section 5 of the 1868 Act and Article 1 of the Promissory Oaths Order 1939, all Cabinet ministers must also take an Oath of Office “in the presence of His Majesty in Council”. These are listed in the Schedule to the 1868 Act. This oath, like the Oath of Allegiance, is taken while kneeling on a red footstool. 

Statute, however, says nothing about hand kissing (which as with Privy Counsellors appears to mean “brushing with lips”), although according to a 1987 Privy Council Office memorandum (reproduced by Rodney Brazier in his book Constitutional Practice), the physical kissing of hands is:

a courtesy which follows the oath when that is taken before The [King] in Council. It is a practice which is invariably observed. It is not, however, a formality on which the appointment in any way depends. 

The Court Circular records that at a Privy Council meeting on Saturday 6 July 2024:

The following took the Oath of Office or made affirmation, kissed hands upon appointment and received the Seals of Office […] After the Council the Rt. Hon. Patrick McFadden MP had an audience of The King and took the Oath of Office, kissed hands on appointment and received the Seals of Office as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

But did all those concerned literally kiss hands? Here the reality remains rather less certain. Although Sir William Anson (writing in the 1890s) was clear that ministers “enter the service of the Crown by kissing the King’s hands”, Harold Wilson noted (again in his memoirs) that on attending a Privy Council “to be appointed First Lord of the Treasury”, he “was not requested to kiss hands on the ground that I had kissed hands as Prime Minister”, although of course he “had not” on that occasion either.

According to one minister contacted by the author who was present at a second Privy Council on 10 July 2024, the monarch’s hand was only physically kissed on their introduction to the Privy Council but not on taking their Oath of Office as a minister. I understand, however, that the norm is for all ministers (including the First Lord of the Treasury) swearing or affirming literally to kiss hands after taking this oath. This, however, is dependent upon circumstances, including the health of the monarch and whether a meeting is physical or remote. Hand kissing is clearly not possible via Zoom. This would perhaps account for certain inconsistencies in ministerial memoirs and from other sources.

The two Privy Council meetings listed above were also particularly busy and would have involved a lot of hand kissing by more than 20 ministers, some of whom had to take two Oaths of Office (for example Jonathan Reynolds as both Secretary of State for Business and Trade, and as President of the Board of Trade). Angela Rayner was also sworn twice on account of “Levelling Up” being removed from her ministerial title. 

Conclusion

Writing in the journal Public Law in 1997, Geoffrey Marshall concluded that “not everything is yet known of this important praeludium to the assumption of senior ministerial office”. From the available evidence, however, it can be said for certain that a new Privy Counsellor does physically kiss hands (if kissing is taken to mean brushing); that a new Prime Minister does not upon appointment; and that the norm is for new ministers (including the First Lord of the Treasury) to do so but that this can vary depending on circumstances. Finally, kissing hands – when it does occur – is a courtesy rather than a legal necessity.

Dr David Torrance, House of Commons Library.

With thanks to Jason Loch for comments on an earlier draft of this blog and for identifying some additional sources.

(Suggested citation: D. Torrance, ‘Ministerial hand kissing ’, U.K. Const. L. Blog (24th July 2024) (available at https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/))