The roles of many members of the British royal family have shifted in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II's death. As King Charles III has been formally named as the new monarch, Prince William has been given the title of Prince of Wales and his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales.
Queen Elizabeth II dies — follow the latest news as the world mourns
Then there is the role of the counsellors of state, a title given to members of the British royal family to whom the monarch can delegate duties.
Both Princes William and Harry served as counsellors of state under Queen Elizabeth, but for Princess Beatrice it is an entirely new role.
Those eligible to be counsellors of state include the monarch's spouse, and those next in line to the British throne who are over the age of 21.
As King Charles becomes monarch, his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, automatically becomes a counsellor of state.
The line of succession then goes to Prince William, 40. Next in line over the age of 21 is Prince Harry, 37.
Eighth in line for the British throne is Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who was already a counsellor of state and retains the title. However, while he is still eligible to step in for the monarch he is not called upon for duties since withdrawing from royal responsibilities in the wake of sexual abuse allegations. Following the death of the queen, Prince Andrew's daughter Princess Beatrice has stepped into the role for the first time.
Although Prince Harry is no longer a senior member of the royal family and primarily lives in the US, he is still in line to the throne. While he remains a British subject, he is still eligible to be a counsellor of state.
Who were Queen Elizabeth's counsellors of state?
When Queen Elizabeth became monarch on February 6, 1952, her husband and four heirs over the age of 21 became counsellors of state; Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; Princess Margaret; Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; Mary, Princess Royal; and George Lascelles, Earl of Harewood.
As an heir to King George VI, his daughter Princess Margaret was already a counsellor of state under his reign, as were his brother Prince Henry, sister Mary, Princess Royal, and nephew George Lascelles.
His wife, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, was also a counsellor of state during King George's time on the throne. When his their daughter, Queen Elizabeth, took over, the Queen Mother did not automatically qualify to be a counsellor of state in 1952. However, under the Passage of the Regency Act 1953, she was given the title, which she held until her death in 2002.
Prince Philip also held on to the role until his death on April 9, 2021. However, as each of her heirs turned 21, there were 11 new counsellors of state during Queen Elizabeth's reign.
At the time of her death, the roles were held by King Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry and Prince Andrew. As her spouse, not an heir, Prince Philip was not replaced following his death.
What can a counsellor of state do?
The role was created in 1937 under King George VI. It, effectively, lets senior members of the royal family step into the monarch's shoes.
"In the event that the queen cannot undertake her official duties as sovereign on a temporary basis due to illness or absence abroad, two or more counsellors of state are appointed by Letters Patent to act in Her Majesty's place," the British royal family's website states.
They can carry out royal functions, including meetings, signing routine documents and receiving the credentials of new ambassadors to the UK. They cannot grant ranks, titles or peerages, nor deal with Commonwealth matters or the appointment of new prime ministers, which is why Queen Elizabeth II was photographed greeting Prime Minister Liz Truss two days before her death. The dissolving of British parliament is also not delegated to a counsellor of state, "except on Her Majesty's express instruction".
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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