ARTICLE I – Office of Governor constituted
There shall be a Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Our Colony of Hong Kong and its Dependencies (hereinafter called the Colony), and appointments to the said Office shall be made by Commission under Our Sign Manual and Signet.
ARTICLE II – Governor's powers and authorities
We do hereby authorize, empower, and command Our said Governor and Commander-in-Chief (hereinafter called the Governor) to do and execute all things that belong to his said office, according to the tenor of these Our Letters Patent and of any Commission issued to him under Our Sign Manual and Signet, and according to such Instructions as may from time to time be given to him, under Our Sign Manual and Signet, or by Order in Our Privy Council, or by Us through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, and to such laws as are now or shall hereafter be in force in the Colony.
ARTICLE III – Publication of Governor's Commission. Oaths to be taken by Governor
Every person appointed to fill the office of Governor shall, with all due solemnity, before entering upon any of the duties of his office, cause the Commission appointing him to be Governor to be read and published in the presence of the Chief Justice or other Judge of the Supreme Court, and of such Members of the Executive Council of the Colony as can conveniently attend; which being done he shall then and there take before them the Oath of Allegiance (Oaths to be taken by Governor), in the form provided by an Act passed in the Session holden in the Thirty-first and Thirty-second years of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, intituled "An Act (1868 c. 72 U.K.) to amend the Law relating to Promissory Oaths"; and likewise the usual Oath for the due execution of the office of Governor and for the due and impartial administration of justice; which Oaths the said Chief Justice or Judge, or if they be unavoidably absent, the senior Member of the Executive Council then present, is hereby required to administer.
ARTICLE IV – Public Seal
The Governor shall keep and use the Public Seal of the Colony for sealing all things whatsoever that shall pass the said Public Seal.
