occasion of the King's absence or incapacity. A rule for all future reigns, however, was established by the Regency Act 1937. Since the passage of the Regency Act 1937, the only persons to have been counsellors of state while not a queen consort, prince, or princess were George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood; Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (although Windsor had been a prince between 1914 and 1917 and never served in practice during his short tenure); and Maud Carnegie, Countess of Southesk (who was entitled to the style of princess but did not use it). Prior to that, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord President of the Council, the prime minister, and the Archbishop of Canterbury had been appointed to the position by George V. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother lost her eligibility to be a counsellor of state in 1952 upon the death of her husband, King George VI. Section 3 of the Regency Act 1953, however, restored her position. The provision was specific to her, rather than applying to dowager consorts generally, and became spent upon her death in 2002. Counsellors of state were last appointed for the 2022 State Opening of Parliament. In September 2022, The Daily Telegraph reported that King Charles III wanted the law to be amended to allow only working members of the royal family to serve as counsellors of state. This would take away the eligibility of family members that do not carry out official functions, while creating a possibility for spouses to senior ranking members and those with a lower position in the line of succession to be called upon and fulfil the role. Questions were raised in the House of Lords in October 2022 by Lord Stansgate about the "suitability" of having the Duke of York and Duke of Sussex as counsellors of state when the former had "left public life" and the latter had "left the country". It was subsequently reported that, instead of removing the dukes from the list of counsellors of state, it was being proposed that the pool of counsellors be expanded in order to create a more flexible list of available royals to stand in for the king if needed. On 14 November 2022, the King sent a message to both Houses of Parliament, formally asking for a change in the law that would allow Princess Anne and Prince Edward to be added