An Act to provide that, in the event of a Regency becoming necessary under the Regency Act 1937, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh shall in certain circumstances be the Regent, to provide that the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the Throne shall be deemed for the purposes of that Act to be of full age if he or she has attained the age of eighteen years, to add Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother to the persons to whom royal functions may be delegated as Counsellors of State, and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[19th November 1953]
Whereas Your Majesty, by Your Majesty’s Royal Message to both Houses of Parliament, has been pleased to recommend that Parliament should consider the expediency of providing that His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh should be the Regent if a child of Your Majesty and His Royal Highness accedes to the Throne while under the age of eighteen years or if a Regency becomes necessary during the lifetime of Your Majesty while there is no child or grandchild of Your Majesty and His Royal Highness who can be the Regent, and also the expediency of amending the law so that the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the Throne should be capable of being Regent if he or she has attained the age of eighteen years:
And whereas Your Majesty by the same Message recommended that Parliament should consider the amendment of the Regency Acts 1937 and 1943, so as to add Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother to the persons to whom, as Counsellors of State, royal functions can be delegated: