Royal Secretary is a position at the court of a monarch generally responsible for communicating the sovereign's wishes to the other members of government. At times and places it may have a number of other duties. In most cases the royal secretary is a close adviser of the monarch. In some cases the office of Royal Secretary evolved into the Secretary of State.
In the Kingdom of Israel the royal secretary had both the duties of private secretary to the king and secretary of state.[1] In addition, the royal secretary exercised some fiscal duties.[1]
Currently the royal secretary of Great Britain is denominated Private Secretary to the Sovereign and has been since 1805.
Seungjeongwon was the Royal Secretariat during the Joseon Dynasty of Korea (1392 – 1910).[4]
Originally of the office of royal secretary in Poland was the secretary protonotarius (or royal notary).[5] It was under this name that the office operated under Władysław II Jagiełło from 1387 to 1423. Under the Jagiellon dynasty the royal secretaries were responsible for arranging the royal correspondence, representing the king at the regional sejms, arranging all kinds of cases most often financial, diplomatic correspondence, and editing the most important public documents. They also kept deputations entertained and resolved disputes between courtiers. The elected kings maintained the tradition and the royal secretary often had a great deal of power.[6]
The secretary to the Pope, formerly known as Secretarius Domesticus evolved into the Secretariat of State.[8]