The phrase is used to signify that the monarch has granted his or her royal assent to a bill in order to make it become law. It is used by the Clerk of the Parliaments in the House of Lords. It is only used after the Lord Chancellor, accompanied by the Lords Commissioners, has read out the letters patent for the bill. The Clerk of the Crown then reads out the short title of the bill and the Clerk of the Parliaments responds by saying the phrase towards the House of Commons at the barof the House for each bill. The phrase is also written on the paper of the bill to show that the monarch granted royal assent to the bill. Should royal assent be refused, the expression La Reyne/Le Roy s'avisera, "The Queen/King will be advised", a paraphrase of the Law Latin euphemism Regina/Rex consideret, would be used, though no British monarch has denied royal assent since Queen Anne withheld it from the Scottish Militia Bill in 1708. For a supply bill, an alternative phrase is used; La Reyne/Le Roy remercie ses bons sujets, accepte leur benevolence, et ainsi le veult. For a personal bill, the phrase Soit fait comme il est désiré is used.
History
The practice of giving royal assent originated in the early days of Parliament to signify that the king intended for something to be made law. Norman French came to be used as the standard language of the educated classes and of the law, though Latin continued to be used alongside it. The work of the Parliament of England was conducted entirely in French until the latter part of Edward III's reign and English was only rarely used before the reign of Henry VI. Royal assent was occasionally given in English, though more usually in French. The practice of recording parliamentary statutes in French or Latin ceased by 1488 and statutes have been published in English ever since. The phrase Le Roy le veult was also used in the Parliament of Ireland. During the period of the Protectorate, when the Lord Protector governed the country, assent was given in English. The old practice of giving assent in Norman French was resumed following the English Restoration in 1660 and has continued ever since. There has only been one attempt to abolish it, when the House of Lords passed a bill in 1706 "for abolishing the use of the French tongue in all proceedings in Parliament and courts of justice". The bill failed to pass the House of Commons. Although the use of French in courts was abolished in 1731, Parliamentary practice was unaffected.
