Wednesday 27 May 2015

Pomp, ceremony and the Queen's Speech

It is a duty that monarchs have performed for hundreds of years and the Queen is up there with those who have done it most often. The State Opening of Parliament signals the official beginnings of the new government which won power in the General Election of May 7th and today, following a pattern of decades standing, the Queen read out its intentions from the throne in the House of Lords while the House of Commons jostled for position at the opposite end of the chamber.


The Queen's Speech started the new parliamentary term

It was, as always, a day of history, pomp and pageantry and a reminder of how the way that Britain is ruled has changed throughout time. The Queen travelled by carriage from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall followed them and shared their departure with the rest of the world in a strangely compelling video tweeted by the British Monarchy account.


The Queen and the Duchess, as is also traditional, wore full length white dresses with Camilla looking almost bridal in her choice - at times stunning, at times a bit too much like a cream version of hr blue wedding dress.

 
 
 
The Queen headed off to the Robing Room where she put on the Imperial State Crown and the Robe of State. The crown, most recently remade in 1937 for the coronation of her father George VI, was carried into the Palace of Westminster on a red cushion before the ceremony.

 
 
The Queen then led the royal procession through the ancient corridors of power. The monarch, with her consort at her side, walked slowly towards the House of Lords where she assumed her throne and waited for the elected politicians who now wield the control and influence that once belonged to her predecessors.

 

Meanwhile, one of the most famous pieces of political theatre in the world was under way as Black Rod - an official of the House of Lords - was sent to summon the Commons to hear the Queen's Speech. For some it's the highlight of the day. He knows as well as we all do that as he approaches the door it will be slammed in his face to show the independence of the Commons from the monarchy. It's a gesture that dates back to the English Civil War when the Queen's predecessor, the first King Charles, was at odds with those who didn't enjoy his government. Three hundred and fifty years on, it is a moment that everyone expects and watches with relish but the underlying meaning remains. The Queen may be making the speech but the policies in it are written by the government, the men and women chosen by the people to rule, and they will come to listen in their own time.

 
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Black Rod struck the door of the Commons three times, he commanded the members of that House to come to the Lords to listen to the Queen and was followed into that chamber by the hundreds of MPs recently returned to Parliament by the will of the people. They stood at the other end of the room from the Queen and listened as she told them what her government planned to do in a speech prepared for her by them and from which she never deviates.

 

And then, it was all over. The speech done, the Commons left the Lords and the Queen left Parliament and everyone went back to doing what they usually do. The politicians started governing while the Prince of Wales swapped his ceremonial uniform for a suit and headed off on another engagement. But none of that could happen until the Queen left the Palace of Westminster. And as she turned her back with another State Opening completed it was the sign that a new term, a new government, a new chapter in British political history had begun. Pomp, ceremony and the Queen's Speech over for another year.


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