stories about England where the author talked about the Privy Council to say nothing of Privy Counsellors! Oh! the images

wow - I do have to protest! a "counsellor" is one who is consulted for advice on whatever problems s/he specialises in. The person that you are referring to, above, is a Privy Councillor, someone who sits on a Council (in this case, of course, the Private Council called by the Sovereign to discuss matters of moment to the monarchy. It is a fine line, but councillors, on the whole, make decisions, rather than give advice, as do counsellors.