Coats of Arms

His August Majestie's Government

The Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor are a monarchy. In the absence of His August Majestie the King (May He Soon Return!), the supreme political authority is the King's Council-General. The first restoration Council-General was holden on Yestare, New Year's Day, of 7526. The current form of His August Majestie's Government was established by four Acts of the Council-General of 7527: The Regency Act (Composite Code II.1), The Stewardship Act (CC IV.1), The Privy Council Act (CC III.1), and the Elective Officers Act (CC IV.2 and XXV.1).

The Heads of State, Until the King Return

His Grace, The Regent of Gondor and Arnor
The Most Noble the Duke of Númenor. The Regent has the sole power to accredit and to receive diplomatic representatives; with the advice and consent of the Privy Council, he has the power to conclude treaties, accept territories, and make peace; upon the recommendation of the Privy Council, and subject to the later ratification of the Councill-General, he has the power to declare war. He enjoys precedence next after Princes of the Blood Royal. Originally, a Regent was to be elected annually by the Accession Council; in 7535, the office was vested for life in The Duke of Númenor, subject to annual review by the Accession Council.

The Regent is head of the Foreign Office:

 

His Grace, the Lord Great Steward and Bearer of the White Rod
The Most Noble, the Duke of Minhiriath. At the recommendation of the Privy Council, the Lord Great Steward has the sole power of summoning, proroguing or dissolving the Council-General; creating royal judges, governors-general, and commissioned officers of the armed forces; and chartering corporations. With the advice and consent of the Privy Council, the Steward creates peers and great officers of state. At his discretion, the Steward issues warrants to the Lord High Chancellor directing that the Great Seal be affixed to such bills of the Privy Council as the Steward thinks fit to become law. The Steward is also charged with responsibility for supervision of harbors, administration of charities, granting of franchises, licensing of printing of state papers, and the guardianship of orphans, infants, and persons of unsound mind.

The King's Councils

The Council-General
The supreme legislative and judicial authority, Until the King Return, for the Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor and the Commonwealth of Esgaroth, the Council-General  ordinarily meets annually (Councils are numbered in annual succession from the first, in 7526). Meetings of the Council are accompanied by collection of the Starkhorn bequest, a charitable contribution to some agency helping the poor of the city in which the Council is meeting. Inasmuch as acts of the Council-General form the basis for the current system of government, and no Council-General can bind a succeeding Council, there are no constitutional limits to a Council-General's authority.

Under the Councillors-General Act of 7540 (CC IV.4) the Council consists of :

Legislative sessions are opened by the Lord President of the Councils, who immediately yields the chair to the Lord High Chancellor in order to take part in the debate. When the Council meets in judicial session, the Steward presides.

The Most Honourable, the Privy Council
The Privy Council exercises the powers of the Council-General with respect to the Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor between meetings of that Council; the Privy Council does not have jurisdiction over the Commonwealth of Esgaroth. As a legislature, the Privy Council's bills are subject to veto by the Lord Great Steward (though a two-thirds majority can override such a veto); as a court, appeals from it lie to the Council-General, by petition to the Steward. The Privy Council has the power to coin money, regulate its value, regulate the value of foreign coin, lay taxes, and, in time of war, to grant letters of marque and reprisal. It is entitled to the revenues from treasure trove, flotsam and jetsam (the income from beached whales, formerly due to the Privy Council, was diverted to animal conservation by the Cetacean Protection Act of 7532 [CC III.2]).

The statutory Privy Councillors are:

The Lord President and Lord Chancellor are elected by the Council-General; the Mayor is selected by the Worshippfull Companie of Freemen of the Shire in its Riddle Contest, or named by the Crown Trustees of the Companie (The Thain and the Dukes of Minhiriath and Númenor). The Thain and the Earl Marshal are hereditary Councillors. In addition, the Lord President and Lord Chancellor may request that the Steward summon other persons as Privy Councillors: The Most Honourable, the Marquess of Meneltarma, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, is the only person to have been so summoned.

The Accession Council
The Accession Council originally had the statutory duty of choosing a Regent; it now meets biennially to determine whether the Regent should continue in office.  The Accession Council Act of 7551 gives the  Accession Council the duty of determining whether or not a legitimate claimant to the Throne has appeared.

The Council consists of:

Executive Departments and Other Agencies

The Lord or Lady President of the King's Councils
The Lady President is the chief executive officer of His August Majestie's government, charged to "take care that the laws of the realms are faithfully executed, according to the letter and tenor thereof." She summons all meetings of the Privy Council, and presides over legislative sessions; she introduces the Government legislation at the Council-General, and speaks first in every debate and votes first in every vote of the Council-General. She enjoys precedence after the Steward and before the Chancellor, unless the Chancellor be a peer and she a commoner, in which case their precedence is reversed.
The Armed Forces
Abolished by the Disestablishment Act of 7526, only to be revived by the Privy Council in connection with the brief war with the Kingdom of the East (7528), the Armed Forces remain a ceremonial rather than practical force, in keeping with the Kingdoms' (and Commonwealth's) broadly peaceful policies.

Principal officers are:

Finance
The Omnibus Financial Act of 7530 (CC VII.1 and IX.2) established an intricate financial system for the Kingdoms. A Central Bank was chartered, with Commercial and Currency divisions, and officers appointed by the Privy Council. The Lord High Treasurer delivered to the Currency Division a letter promising to pay, at the direction of the Council-General or of His August Majestie, one kilogramme of mithril or the equivalent in precious metals. The Currency Division in turn issued Reserve Notes to the amount of 1 KG, which it deposited to the Government's account in the Commercial Division. The Commercial Division was free to conduct such ordinary banking business as it saw fit. Meanwhile, the Privy Council was to establish a Financial Committee. The Commercial Division could obtain an increase in the supply of Reserve Notes by surrendering promissory notes or non-Government bonds to the Royal Treasury (to be distinguished from the Government account at the Bank) at a rate of discount set by the Financial Committee, the discounted value being promised by the Treasurer to the Currency Division in the fashion already described. The Financial Committee could also sell government bonds at a discount from face value, the receipts from the sales being accumulated in the Royal Treasury and interest being paid from tax receipts through the Government's accounts at the Bank.

The system has yet fully to take effect, though the Central Bank has issued bank notes reflecting the establishment of the Government accout.

The College of Arms of Middle-earth
Because the revival of the College of Arms antedates the restoration of His August Majestie's Government, the College has always claimed a supra-national character; its intention is to have representatives from, and supervise armorial practice in, all the realms of Middle-earth, not merely the Kingdoms and Commonwealth. The College grants armorial bearings and advises the Lord Great Steward on questions of precedence; one or more of the Kings of Arms presides in the Court of Chivalry; and members of the College make the public proclamations commonly associated with heralds. Osgiliath Herald has the privilege of serving as herald at the Council-General.

The members of the College are:

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This page last revised 10 Urui 7550 / July 25, 1997.

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