State Opening of Parliament 1: 2002-2022


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@BBCPeterHunt
March 1974---the last time a "dressed down" Queen attended the State Opening of Parliament-
https://mobile.twitter.com/BBCPeterHunt/status/857597751642738689

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4451688/The-Queen-dress-State-Opening.html

Mbruno said:
Under the golden rule of the press, if the Palace emphatically denies that it has "anything to do with her age", everybody will conclude age was an issue.
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As shown above, this all happened before in 1974. So this has nothing to do with her age. Yes, at some point she will probably stop wearing the Imperial State Crown due to her age. This is not the case at the moment though.
 
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Mbruno said:
In fact, at this point, I am not sure if Charles will even have a coronation, especially given the controversy over Camilla being crowned or not, which might serve as a pretext to replace the coronation with a Dutch-like investiture ceremony instead.
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Charles's coronation is already being planned (Operation Golden Orb).
 
One thing I've come to realize about the British is that if they cannot do something totally prepared, they don't do it. With the State Opening of Parliament quite sudden and unexpected, rather than go ahead with the full blown pomp and circumstances the day would require, they've opted out for a shortened, bare bones opening. Its not really surprising when we stop to think about it.

Of course in previous years, there has been a time when the Queen opened parliament and then headed over to Windsor for Ascot but at 91 years young, it would be quite taxing for her I bet. In this case, I'm seeing the Queen put duty before anything else and opening parliament, albeit a bare bones opening, and it would be too much on her to rush back to Windsor and don all the ceremonial regalia and hold the Order of the Garter service. So, in a way, HM is honoring what needs to be done today rather than participating in an age old tradition.

Just don't mess with HM's Ascot races. That just wouldn't do. :D
 
The Queen will 'dress down' the State Opening | Daily Mail Online
In a statement Buckingham palace said today: 'As announced by government, The State Opening of Parliament will take place on Monday 19th June following the General Election.

'To allow Her Majesty to attend in support of the parliamentary and constitutional process, The Queen's programme of engagements has been revised.

' As a result, the annual service for the Order of the Garter, which had been due to take place on 19th June, has been cancelled. Knights of the Garter and others due to attend have been informed.

' Additionally, owing to the revised calendar, the State Opening of Parliament will take place with reduced ceremonial elements. '
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And as Peter Hunt says on twitter, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall won't be at the State Opening. Likely to return next year. (along with the carriages).
 
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ROYAL NORWAY said:
The Queen will 'dress down' the State Opening | Daily Mail Online

And as Peter Hunt says on twitter, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall won't be at the State Opening. Likely to return next year. (along with the carriages).
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I'm finding all this fascinating. I would have been completely uninterested the last time this occurred - I had not yet experienced my personal royal awakening. ;). Now, I need to go read some history so that I have context beyond that provided by the DM.
 
The situation with the 2017 State Opening of Parliament was mishandled by the Windsor Palace. Explanations sounded awkward. For example, "Officials insist the temporary changes have nothing to do with the Queen's age. Normal ceremonial service will resume next year."

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-parliaments-39731596
 
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Everything sounds fine to me.

The government called a snap election. They have to have a State Opening of Parliament within a few weeks of that election.

They had to come up with a date and the possible dates meant clashing with Garter and Ascot week.

Having decided it had to be that week then something had to give.

As many of the carriages etc are used on the Saturday and then again at Ascot they need time to move them from BP to Windsor - not the big ones of course but the open carriages.

They also need time for the cavalry to rehearse for both ceremonies and they are different requirements for each one with rehearsals often taking place in the early hours of the morning. The horses also go away for their annual break from Horseguards after Trooping the Colour.

It is clear that the scaled down ceremony is to do with the horses not being able to be properly rehearsed for two totally different ceremonies within two days of each other.

So if no cavalry available then no closed coaches and so cars being used.

That means that the Queen will also wear day dress rather than the full evening dress - as she has done before when circumstances dictated a quick turnaround for the State Opening after a snap election.

There is a precedent here and it is being followed.

No mishandling at all - just disappointment for those who like the pomp and ceremony.

Sad for the Garter after last year's washed affair with no walk down to the Chapel and now no ceremony at all. (I wonder is that is why there were no new knights announced last Sunday on St George's Day - that the Queen already knew that there would be no Garter Ceremony following the election).

This may mean no return to the full ceremonial - if all goes well why have it may become the call? More than likely though the full ceremonial will be back next year with Charles and Camilla also in attendance unlike this year when they won't be and one less chance to snipe at Kate and what she is wearing on those sites that prefer to do that sort of thing.
 
There have been suggestions this morning that The Queen may not deliver her speech in person if the Government cannot assure her that it will be voted through.


From BBC

What role does the Queen play?
The leader of the party that can tell the Queen they have a workable Commons majority is the one Her Majesty will authorise to form a government.
By convention, the Queen does not get involved in party politics, so there are no circumstances in which she would choose the prime minister.
There have been suggestions that she may not deliver the Queen's Speech in person if there's a question mark over whether it will get voted through.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40209087
 
:previous: To be honest, I think TPTB will be more than happy with this situation following the terrorist attacks. It gives them more time to revise the planning for such events. However, I have no doubt it will be back to normal next year. That's what the people of the UK expect and the number of tourists visiting is not to be sneezed at either.
 
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wbenson said:
Election 2017: May meets MPs after Cabinet reshuffle - BBC News

The BBC understands the Queen’s Speech will be delayed by a few days. It had been due to take place next Monday.
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I know the election came as a bit of a surprise, as did the results, but I can't help but feel sorry for those who organise the ceremonial! Cancel Garter Day, postponed the State Opening, now potentially interfere with a days racing at Ascot. The whole thing is a bit of a shambles really.
 
RoyalProtocol said:
I know the election came as a bit of a surprise, as did the results, but I can't help but feel sorry for those who organise the ceremonial! Cancel Garter Day, postponed the State Opening, now potentially interfere with a days racing at Ascot. The whole thing is a bit of a shambles really.
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The original Queen's Speech to be delivered next week was suitable for a majority government. Now that there will be a minority Conservative government backed by the DUP, significant portions of the speech will have to be rewritten and a final version won't be ready anyway until the agreement with the DUP is finalized. There was no alternative then but to postpone the State Opening of Parliament.

Since the Queen's Speech ceremonial was already going to be toned down this year, I don't think the delay will cause too many problems.
 
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The problem is not with the ceremonial for the State Opening - other than changing to the arrangements to move the Crown from the Tower so adjusting security arrangements around that.

They may have some changes to Ascot as well which may disappoint people if the Queen has to miss a day at the races.

The hubris of May bites again it seems.
 
At this point its not clear if the Speech has been delayed, already they are saying its in part because the Speech is written on vellum so needs time to dry (sounds quite funny really). I suspect as the Queen will be attending (whenever the Speech actually goes ahead) in day dress not gown, robe and crown many would find it acceptable for the speech (which we do not see apart from the cover) to be printed on paper.

Also people pointing out that the Queen had to cancel the Garter Day service to make way for the original Speech from the Throne. I suspect the Queen will be even less impressed if she now has to cancel Garter day and now also miss a day of Ascot.
 
The Queens Speech is rescheduled for next Wednesday 21st. We have an Ascot Clash.
 
The Queen reads out what the new government intends to do for the next year. It's harder right now because the conservatives don't hold a majority, so their policies will change if the DUP joins them under a coalition banner.
 
The BBC is reporting that the Queen's Speech is now due to take place next Wednesday. The State Opening of Parliament was originally scheduled to take place on Monday, June 19, but it had to be postponed as the Conservatives finalize a deal with the DUP to support PM Theresa May's new minority government.

Queen's Speech to take place next week - BBC News
 
Just to say, it's been said that The Queens Speech will go ahead regardless of a coalition formed. Which makes things super tricky.
 
A silly question about the Queen's dress code (the absolute least important aspect of the State Opening, I know, but I'm curious all the same):

Is the shift down to day dress a matter of having the formality of her attire match the formality of the conveyance from the palace to Westminster? In other words, wear the gown and crown if using horses and carriages, wear a day dress if the procession is downgraded to cars--and for this event it's not ok to mix and match?

Someone earlier, on this forum if not on this thread, explained that the lesser formality was due to lack of time to rehearse the horses. At first I couldn't figure out why that impacted her clothing. And I guess I'm just still not sure I've got it sorted out correctly.
 
Apparently HMQ is determined she will make it to Ascot in time for the first race on Wednesday, so it'll be interesting to see how speedily the 'speech from the throne' is read...
 
She has done the State Opening of Parliament and Ascot on the same day in the past so assuming the government allows for the speech to be early enough in the day she should be able to get to Ascot as well.
 
Quick drive from Windsor to Parliament (no carriages as its a 'dressed down' version), read speech which takes 10 mins tops, drive back to Windsor in time for Ascot. I know it takes longer with the Queen meeting people etc but suspect if we are ever going to see it done at lightning speed this will be the year!

Edit
BBC reports Queen will be there on day 2 once speech is over
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/40290516
 
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Perhaps this is one occasion where we could honestly say that wild horses couldn't keep the Queen from Ascot. :D

I think if there's anything that HM looks forward to every year, Ascot would be it. Or... any races for that matter. Its something that the Queen has had a passion for all her life. I'm betting that she's really glad that its a more dressed down opening of Parliament this year and can dash in, read her speech and dash out to the races.
 
Mbruno said:
The original Queen's Speech to be delivered next week was suitable for a majority government. Now that there will be a minority Conservative government backed by the DUP, significant portions of the speech will have to be rewritten and a final version won't be ready anyway until the agreement with the DUP is finalized. There was no alternative then but to postpone the State Opening of Parliament.

Since the Queen's Speech ceremonial was already going to be toned down this year, I don't think the delay will cause too many problems.
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Anew speech can be written in two hours. It is not sending troops to war.
 
COUNTESS said:
Anew speech can be written in two hours. It is not sending troops to war.
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The writing of the speech isn't the problem. It is getting it onto the right type of paper in time. The Queen doesn't read it from a word-processed document but from a type of parchment and that takes more than two hours to get organised.

I have never understood why the Brits need to do an 'Opening of Parliament' every year anyway. Here is Oz we do one with each new government (nothing as ceremonial as the Brits but still). So the GG went to Parliament House last year, after our election, opened the parliament and won't do so again until after the next election. Following that idea then the Queen won't need to do another one for up to five years.
 
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I guess it's over. Those days.. That pageantry.. and all.. Suddenly in 2019 it may seem a totally unnecessary extravaganza in "tough times".. Let alone how the Queen will be..
I really pray it doesn't happen, but..
 
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