The constitutions of the Revolution initially provided the administration of the new state's foreign affairs through the chief secretary of the state, and later through the private secretary. A ministry, as we know it today, was established by decree on 3rd April 1833, on the creation of secretariats [ministries] as Secretariat of the Royal House and Foreign Affairs. It was renamed by the 18th March 1844 constitution Ministry of the Royal House and Foreign Affairs and by the 7th Enactment of 4th February 1863 it was renamed Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by which name it is still known today.

The secretariat's competence included the regulation of interests and various relations of the kingdom (the king and every citizen) with other states, negotiations and communication in general with foreign governments and services, and the observation of formality. Finally, the secretariat assumed the obligation to organize, guide and supervize the diplomatic representation of the country at home and abroad. The ministry's competences and its primary position in the hierarchy of the Cabinet do not suggest that the minister was omnipresent; he was under a lot of pressure and was subject to limitations by institutional and non-institutional factors. The monarch and Cabinet maintained the responsibility for the operation of foreign relations, which the Prime Minister handled directly. Since 1835, the State Council, an institution entirely subjected to the King, played a controlling role too. After the political change of 1843, Parliament was also responsible for the crucial function of ratifying diplomatic acts such as treaties, diplomatic missions, etc.
A typical example of the way in which foreign policy was exercised was the rejection of the treaty signed by Zographos and the Kapi in 1840, by the Cabinet, the State Council and public opinion as well.

At the same time, Greek foreign policy was influenced by and sometimes fell victim to the pressure of public opinion, semi-conspiratorial associations and unions and to the initiatives of committees and hot-blooded officers in the armed forces, which usually became a posteriori legalized. Impressive articles in the press, demonstrations, contributions and ceremonies in favour of national rights attributed a strange collective irresponsibility to the exercise of foreign policy.

Backstage, the ambassadors of the Powers suggested to the king and the politicians what they thought was the necessary policy. Besides, their names (English, French and Russian party), as well as heavy characterizations, such as 'the confidential man of the English', as Charilaos Trikoupis was named, derived from the relations between parties and politicians, and particular powers. The presence of ambassadors of the Powers was interwoven with the country's international recognition, and was completed during the first years of Otto's reign, by the replacement of the vice-ambassadors by ambassadors of England, France and Russia, and the arrival of ambassadors from Austria, Spain and Prussia in 1834. Through the indirect representation of the country to the international diplomatic field by the Powers, their ambassadors often functioned as a Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was not formal, but was in fact powerful.