State Opening of Parliament 1: 2002-2022


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:previous: There were two elections that year and so two State Openings, but only one of these was scaled down.
 
:previous: There were two elections that year and so two State Openings, but only one of these was scaled down.


I remember reading about the March 1974 State Opening before. I've read the court circular entry in the times archive and it does say The Queen drove in a motor car to the peers entrance and then opened Parliament. But The Times had no photos of the event.

Has anyone ever seen photos of The Queen attending this very different style State Opening?


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Wow, well that sucks. Totally makes you think whIle at the same time bringing the part down.

Actually I think Mr Putin -with all his faults- has hit an open nerve there. Nowhere in the modern West-European democracies there is a second Chamber entirely with (more than 600!!) non-elected parliamentarians. Yes, like the Bundeskammer in Germany, the Sénat in France, the Eerste Kamer in the Netherlands, the Senado in Spain, etc. the powers are limited but after all the citizens have had a vote, directly or indirectly (via the regions). It is easy to classify it as "that sucks" but one can also look with an objective eye and see what the House of Lords actually is.

Things are changing. The Scots are ramming on the gates for more powers. The new Government wants to abolish the European Convention on Human Rights and replace it with something new. A referendum on the EU is coming. Don't act like never ever nothing will change in the system of Westminster. My assessment is that it will happen sooner than we all expect. When it becomes a "normal" elected body and being a Lord or Lady with title is no longer a requirement, we automatically will see a visual change in the State Opening of Parliament and future Coronations. Mark my words.
 
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I remember reading about the March 1974 State Opening before. I've read the court circular entry in the times archive and it does say The Queen drove in a motor car to the peers entrance and then opened Parliament. But The Times had no photos of the event.

Has anyone ever seen photos of The Queen attending this very different style State Opening?


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I've searched online and can't seem to find any, I imagine there were cameras there? Unless it was so low key it wasn't filmed or photographed?
 
It isn't broken, so why the need to fix it ? Just because the continental royals do it one way, why do we need to ape them ? Our royal family didn't start trundling around on bicycles when the Dutch royals [temporarily] did so...
The continuity and symbolism of 'the King in Parliament' embodied in the State opening [as now constituted] is part of the warp and weft of life here, and why should everything be standardised to 'European models' , whose history is SO different from ours ?

Has anyone said it has to change? I only said the current system with the unelected House of Lords will change, the whole Britain is changing anyway, ask Nicola's troops...

And when the current system of Westminster changes, it will also have consequences for how the current State Opening of Parliament looks. Many of the old "traditions" are newly invented anyway. A State Opening today is vast different from a State Opening under Queen Victoria. For an example: the current building was not yet as we know it when Queen Victoria came on the throne. The current ceremony in the House of Lords was newly invented when the first State Opening started to take place in that venue. It is not that all vested in un-destroyable concrete...
 
Has anyone said it has to change? I only said the current system with the unelected House of Lords will change, the whole Britain is changing anyway, ask Nicola's troops...

And when the current system of Westminster changes, it will also have consequences for how the current State Opening of Parliament looks. Many of the old "traditions" are newly invented anyway. A State Opening today is vast different from a State Opening under Queen Victoria. For an example: the current building was not yet as we know it when Queen Victoria came on the throne. The current ceremony in the House of Lords was newly invented when the first State Opening started to take place in that venue. It is not that all vested in un-destroyable concrete...


And the British State opening of Parliament along with our Coronations and Royal Weddings makes what they do on the continent look like a high school prom

The British are still the kings of pomp and circumstance.
 
And the British State opening of Parliament along with our Coronations and Royal Weddings makes what they do on the continent look like a high school prom

The British are still the kings of pomp and circumstance.


I agree on the state opening of parliament and coronations, but not so much on the royal weddings. William's wedding for example looked impressive mostly because of the ambiance (Westminster Abbey) and the huge number of guests in attendance, but I didn't find it particularly "pompuous" compared to similar continental events.

Recent Scandinavian weddings (e.g. in Denmark and Sweden) were "smaller" in terms of venue and total number of guests, but they were far more pompuous in dressing code (tiaras, long dresses, etc.) and number of royal guests (including monarchs in attendance). And the pre and post-wedding parties were certainly more impressive in the Scandinavian case.


I didn't see other continental wedding ceremonies that were held in large churches (for example, Philippe's wedding to Mathilde and Felipe's wedding to Letizia), but I suppose they were comparable to William's. I must say though I wasn't particularly impressed by Maxima's and Willem-Alexander's wedding, but I guess that's because I find Dutch reformed liturgy underwhelming.
 
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I still prefer British weddings but add to that the Diplomatic reception ( tiara event) , Trooping the Colour, Beating Retreat, The Noble Order of the Garter Procession, Procession of the Order of the Thistle and the other events I mentioned and for me at least there is nothing to rival British pomp and circumstance. No comparison at all with the continent
 
Royal Central ‏@RoyalCentral 12h12 hours ago
The State Opening of Parliament will take place on 18th May this year, it is announced.
 
State Opening of Parliament May 18th 2016- BBC One: 10:30am
Coverage from the Palace of Westminster of the State Opening of Parliament attended by the Queen-
BBC One - The State Opening of Parliament

One can watch it outside the UK on Mediahhh.com
 
State Opening of Parliament 2002-2015

It's also airing live at 530 AM Eastern on CSPAN2. If people in the states want to set up their DVRs.


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Bbc programming for the Queens Speech is commencing
 
Just watching on BBC1,its a rather wet morning in London today for The State Opening of Parliament.
 
The Queen will be using a lift rather than the usual stairs to get to the Robing Room. Not entirely surprising.
 
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Bit of a change of The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh using the elevator now rather than the stairs upon arrival at the Palace of Westminster. Due to age and comfort.
 
I applaud The Queen for still having so much strength and perseverance at her advanced age (it is also lovely to see her supported by the Duke of Edinburgh). If she wishes to use the lift, then that is perfectly understandable.

I wonder how it must feel to hold a speech written by others that you have not got much to say in the contents of that speech. Of course this is as it has been for a long time. Does The Queen have access to the speech beforehand or is it only handed to her at the State Opening?

Part of me wishes there was something more to this ceremony. A lunch perhaps. In a way it is good that work will begin immediately but it just seems a bit wasteful to have The Queen drive in a carriage with all the regalia to the Parliament, read a speech and hurry back. That's it.
 
Glad to notice that the TV coverage this year did not show HMQ alighting from the Coach, and that she no longer uses the Staircase, but takes the Lift instead. Very sensible considering her advanced age now.
 
I have always thought HM somewhat of a pragmatist and today made me smile. In view of her advanced age, the great and the good have been pontificating at some length about how long she would be able to continue wearing the Imperial State Crown due to its weight (1.6 kg).

Strangely, I don't think I have ever heard any commentator remark on the rather formidable staircase Her Majesty and Prince Philip have to navigate formally, her hand over his. That is an extremely arduous task and HM made short work of solving the problem. The lift! Referred somewhat whimsically to as 'The Gold Lift of State' by the BBC Commentator. She, Prince Philip and their train were whisked up within seconds.

Having cut out a fair old procession up the stairs and to the robing room and later processing from the robing room down the stairs to the carriage, I think both she and Philip must have had energy to spare. More importantly, it made for an interesting entrance and an equally entertaining exit which I am sure someone of an organisational and regal bent will finesse so we hardly notice it next year. But the beaming faces of HM and Prince Philip were wonderful.

But most importantly, history was preserved, she still wore the ISC and the continuity of the State Opening of Parliament with all its intrinsic meaning was enacted for all to see and commentators to wax lyrical essentially the same as it has been since King EdwardVII re-established it following the death of Queen Victoria.

Gold lift of state
 
Her Majesty The Queen opened the new session of parliament today, and was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. She and Philip used the magnificent Diamond Jubilee State Coach, while Charles and Camilla used the Irish State Coach.

What is the State Opening of Parliament and the Queen's Speech?

Queen uses lift instead of stairs for first time at State Opening of Parliament
The Queen has for the first time chosen to use a lift to get to the House of Lords for the State Opening of Parliament, in one of the most public concessions to her age to date.

Household Cavalry soldiers in full dress uniform had lined the 26 steps at the Sovereign’s Entrance, but the Queen, 90, and the 94-year-old Duke of Edinburgh bypassed them in favour of the lift to the Robing Room.

It is there that the Queen puts on her heavy robes of State and the Imperial State Crown.

Her Majesty is understood to suffer from sore knees, but Buckingham Palace denied the use of the lift was connected to any specific health issue.

A spokesman said: “It is a modest adjustment made for the Queen’s comfort.”

In her tenth decade, the Queen’s staff are constantly trying to find ways to make her public engagements less physically demanding, though Her Majesty remains in remarkably good health for her age and still goes riding.

The Queen is resplendent at the State Opening of Parliament | Daily Mail Online
Weighed down with heavy ceremonial crowns and robes, the Queen looked resplendent as she arrived for the State Opening of Parliament this morning, one of the most important events of her calendar.

As well as Queen Victoria's pearl drop earrings and the Diamond Jubilee necklace, the monarch wore two crowns - starting the day with the George IV State Diadem, set with 1,333 diamonds, to travel from Buckingham Palace to the House of Lords.

She wore a white dress by Angela Kelly and the same silver evening shoes by her favourite brand Anello & Davide that she wore to last year's event to deliver a speech setting out plans for the UK's first spaceport and driverless cars as well as an online porn crackdown, a 'universal' right to high-speed broadband, NHS charges for foreigners and a major prisons overhaul.

The tradition, which dates back to the 16th century, is one of the most spectacular of the royal calendar and sees the Queen wearing two of the most important pieces in the Royal collection of jewels and clothing, both also worn for the coronation: the Imperial State Crown and the Robe of the State.

Video:
The Queen has travelled by carriage from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament to deliver her annual speech.
Home - ITNSource News

The whole speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0UcjSHd7mo
 
I wonder why the Queen does not opt for Queen Victoria's smaller crown, or wear the magnificent King George's State Diadem, eventually with the Imperial Crown on a special place next to her throne, to symoblize her kingship. Such a tiny, breakable lady and a monster-sized crown on that fragile head... Kudos for doing so, but I would like it too when she would be relieved from that burden. It is also a bit distracting to hear and see the Queen announcing draconic cuts while at the same time a giant construction with unbelievable jewels is wobbling on her head.
 
I believe Queen Mary was the last queen to wear the small diamond crown of Queen Victoria.
 
The beautiful and elegant small diamond crown created for Queen Victoria: picture. But maybe it is no sight on Queen Elizabeth II, with her puffy hairdo. It probably needs a straight hairdo or a veil indeed.
 
AFAIK The Duchess of Cornwall always wear white at the State Opening of the Parliament. Is this a tradition or only the personal taste of her?
 
AFAIK The Duchess of Cornwall always wear white at the State Opening of the Parliament. Is this a tradition or only the personal taste of her?

It's pretty much the official court dress. Sometimes The Queen wear gold on this occasion.
 
AFAIK The Duchess of Cornwall always wear white at the State Opening of the Parliament. Is this a tradition or only the personal taste of her?

The Ladies-in-Waiting also wear white, as does the Queen herself. I think the Duchess of Cornwall conforms to this colour. Princess Margaret has been seen with other colours. In crème. In blue-green. In green. Maybe the difference is that the Princess sat with the Peeresses in the benches while the Duchess of Cornwall sits on the dais, therefore complementing the Queen and the Ladies-in-Waiting in an uniform colour?
 
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