Head of the British Armed Forces


The Head of the British Armed Forces, also known as Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces, is the supreme command authority of the British Armed Forces, a role vested in the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently Queen Elizabeth II. Under British constitutional law the command and government of the British armed forces is vested in the Queen and as such she holds the highest office in the military chain of command. The authority to issue orders and give commands to military personnel is delegated by the Queen to her commanders in the Field, however she does retain the right to issue orders personally.

Oath of allegiance

Before joining the military all recruits of the British Armed Forces must take the following oath:
I... swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will, as in duty bound, honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, in Person, Crown and Dignity against all enemies, and will observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, and of the Generals and officers set over me.
Long-standing constitutional convention, however, has vested de facto executive authority, by the exercise of Royal Prerogative, in the Prime Minister and Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Defence. The Prime Minister makes the key political decisions on the use of the armed forces.
The Queen however, remains the supreme authority of the military. As Commander-in-Chief the Queen closely follows developments in the armed forces and the security services. She regularly receives the agenda in advance of all cabinet meetings and its committees, particularly the national security committee. She also receives the minutes of the meetings of all of these committees and all cabinet documents.

Duties and Functions

In her capacity as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces the Queen exercises the following powers, duties and functions on the advice of Her Majesty’s Cabinet:
Powers relating to armed forces, war and times of emergency
The Defence Services Secretary is an officer of the Royal Household. He is the primary channel of communication between the Monarch, in her capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and the officers and commands of the British Armed Forces. His office provides the Monarch with the information and documentation related to defence affairs that she requires to perform her military functions. The Defence Services Secretary is responsible to the Queen, the Secretary of State for Defence and the Chief of the Defence Staff for tri-service military appointments. He submits the names of the officers nominated for promotion to the Queen through her private secretary. The Queen makes appointments to the ranks of rear-admiral, major-general, air-vice-marshal and above directly.

The Queen and Military Appointments

Under the Queen’s regulations for the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Monarch is responsible for making a large number of appointments to senior military posts. The names of the officers appointed to these and other posts in the armed forces are regularly published by the Ministry of Defense The following is a list of some of the most senior positions appointed by the Queen.
PostNominated byAppointed byRank of Post holder
Chief of the Defense StaffSecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenGeneral, Admiral or Air Chief Marshal
First Sea Lord and Chief of the Navy StaffSecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenAdmiral
Commander Operations Secretary of State for DefenseThe QueenRear Adimral
Fleet CommanderSecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenVice Admiral
Chief of the General StaffSecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenGeneral
Deputy Chief of the General StaffSecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenLieutenant General
Commander Strategic CommandSecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenGeneral, Admiral, Air Chief Marshal
Chief of Joint OperationsSecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenVice-Admiral, Lieutenant-General, Air-Marshal
Commander Field ArmySecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenLieutenant General
Major General Commanding the Household DivisionSecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenMajor General
Chief of the Air StaffSecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenAir Chief Marshal
Air SecretarySecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenAir Vice Marshal
Military SecretarySecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenMajor General
Naval SecretarySecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenRear Admiral
Commander Joint Helicopter CommandSecretary of State for DefenseThe QueenAir Vice Marshal, Rear Admiral, Major-General

The Queen and the Ministry of Defence

The Ministry of Defence is the highest level military headquarters charged with formulating and executing defence policy for the Armed Forces; it employed 57,000 civilians in October 2017.
The command authority of the Armed Forces flows from the Queen, in her capacity as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, to the various officers and councils of the defense ministry. The Monarch appoints the members of these committees to exercise day to day administration of Her Majesty's Armed Forces. The committees are the Defence Council, the Army Board, the Navy Board, the Air Force Board, the Defence Board and the Chiefs of Staffs Committee. The Defence Council, composed of senior representatives of the services and the Ministry of Defence, provides the "formal legal basis for the conduct of defence" and is chaired by the Defence Secretary.

The Queen and the Naval, Military and Air command Staffs

Each service branch of the Armed Forces maintains its own command staff that administers the affairs of its service. The staffs receive their authority to act and to exercise command and control over their units from the Queen and her Defense Council.
Until 2012 each of the three services also had one or more commands with a commander-in-chief in charge of operations. These were, latterly: Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces and Commander-in-Chief Air. Since 2012, however, full operational command has been vested in the three Chiefs of Staff, and the appointment of distinct Commanders-in-Chief has been discontinued. This change was implemented in response to the 2011 Levene report, which advised that it would serve to "streamline top-level decision-making, simplify lines of accountability... remove duplication between the posts and also provide impetus to the leaning of the senior leadership".

Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda

In the colonies of the English Empire, and subsequently the British Empire, the duties of lords-lieutenant were generally performed by the commander-in-chief or the governor. Both offices may have been occupied by the same person. Attempts to rekindle the militia without a Militia Act or funds from the colonial government were made throughout the 19th century under the authorisation of the governor and commander-in-chief, but none proved lasting. The colonial government was finally compelled to raise militia and volunteer forces, and these fell under the governor and commander-in-chief, as well as under operational control of his junior, the brigadier in charge of the Bermuda Command forces in the colony. Although the Royal Naval and the regular army establishments have been withdrawn from Bermuda, the Governor of Bermuda remains the commander-in-chief of the Royal Bermuda Regiment.