Executive council (Commonwealth countries) in the context of "King's representative"

In the British Empire, a self-governing colony was a colony with responsible government in which the Executive Council was appointed from the majority in the elected Legislative Assembly. This gave the colony nearly full internal autonomy while reserving control of foreign and defence policy, for the most part, to London. This was in contrast to a Crown colony, in which the British Government ruled directly via an appointed Governor, with or without the assistance of an appointed Council.

Self-governing colonies for the most part had no formal authority over constitutional matters such as the monarchy and the constitutional relationship with the United Kingdom. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London serves as the ultimate avenue of appeal in matters of law and justice.

The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it refers to the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of approving orders, on the advice of the country's privy council or executive council.

In countries where the reigning monarch is represented by a viceroy, derivative terms are used instead, such as Governor in Council or Lieutenant Governor in Council.

The governor of Queensland is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the Australian state of Queensland. The governor has many constitutional and ceremonial roles in the political system of Queensland; however, they are generally bound by convention to act on the advice of the premier and the Executive Council of Queensland. They also have a significant community role, through investing Australian Honours on behalf of the governor-general, patronage of community organisations, and representing the state as a whole. The current governor is Jeannette Young.

Significant functions of the governor include giving royal assent to bills passed by parliament, issuing writs for elections, exercising executive power on the advice of the Queensland Executive Council, formally appointing government officials (including the premier, other ministers, judges and officials), opening sessions of state parliament, and presenting Australian honours. Although Australia has a federal system of government, the governor is the direct representative of the monarch and is not subordinate to the governor-general.