The Duchy of Lancaster is one of the two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Cornwall. It is held in trust for the Sovereign, and is used to provide income for the use of the British monarch. The Duchy of Cornwall provides income to the Prince of Wales.

The duchy comprises 18,700 ha (46,000 acres), including key urban developments, historic buildings, and farm land in many parts of England and Wales, as well as large holdings in Lancashire. As of fiscal year 2010, it is valued at £348 million. The Sovereign is not entitled to the capital of the portfolio nor to capital profits. Revenue profits are distributed to the Sovereign, and are subject to income tax. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a Government Minister appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Chancellor is 'answerable to Parliament' for the running of the Duchy.

In addition to holding land in Lancashire, the Duchy of Lancaster also exerts some powers and ceremonial duties of The Crown in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, Merseyside and the Furness area of Cumbria, which together form the County Palatine of Lancashire. Since the Local Government Act 1972, the Duchy holds and exerts the right to appoint Sheriffs and Lords Lieutenant in the ceremonial counties of Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire, including those areas from the historic county boundaries of Cheshire and Yorkshire.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group of Christians in the world^{[citation needed]}.

The current archbishop is the Most Reverend Rowan Williams. He is the 104th in a line which goes back more than 1400 years to St Augustine of Canterbury, the "Apostle to the English", in the year 597. From the time of St Augustine until the 16th century, the Archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the See of Rome and thus received the pallium. During the English Reformation the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, at first temporarily under Henry VIII and Edward VI and later permanently during the reign of Elizabeth I.

In the Middle Ages there was considerable variation in the methods of nomination of the Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops. At various times the choice was made by the canons of Canterbury Cathedral, the King of England, or the Pope. Since the English Reformation, the Church of England has been more explicitly a state church and the choice is legally that of the British crown; today it is made in the name of the Sovereign by the Prime Minister, from a shortlist of two selected by an ad hoc committee called the Crown Nominations Commission.