Royal sign-manual

The royal sign-manual is the signature of the sovereign, by the affixing of which the monarch expresses their pleasure either by order, commission, or warrant.

A sign-manual warrant may be either an executive act (for example, an appointment to an office), or an authority for affixing the Great Seal of the pertinent realm.

The royal sign-manual usually consists of the sovereign's regnal name (without number, if otherwise used), followed by the letter R for Rex (king) or Regina (queen).

[1] In some cases, the use of the sign-manual has been dispensed with and a stamp affixed in lieu thereof, as in the case of George IV, whose bodily infirmity made the act of signing difficult and painful during the last weeks of his life.

[1][2][3] According to article 47[4] of the constitution of the Netherlands, all Acts of Parliament and Royal Decrees have to be signed by the King and by one or more Ministers or State Secretaries (called a countersign).