Great Seal

 Greetings

Whilst I was waiting for Teddy and our passenger after the ball in Putney, I noticed this marvelous charter on the wall.

My father used to do volunteer conservation work on documents at the National Achieves at Kew and used to refer to the cases for documents with the Great Seal as 'banjo boxes', as the seal has to has its own circular compartment.

This is the second time I have seen a document with the Great Seal. The first time was the charter setting up Queen Anne's Bounty to the Church of England ( I used to work for the adminstation side of the Cof E).

This one has, of course, the Great Seal of Elizabeth the second, just like all the Acts of Parliament of her reign. 

I'm told that,after Royal assent, each Act is printed on vellum and sealed with the Great Seal and one of the heralds has to take the document to Parliament and when its title is announced declare 'La Reyne Le veult' ( the queen wishes it- in Norman French) 

Apparently, the seals are so heavy that the herald has to remember to support it with one hand to stop the document tearing.

Of course the matrix for this seal will have been destroyed at the Queen's death.

A new Great Seal will have been made for King Charles the third and the heralds will say 'Le Roy le veult".

Here is a close up of the seal.

Until next time

Adieu