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Hardly surprising as it is a snap election and there has just been a state opening... I expect it to be a ”dressed down” state opening also in the event of a Change of government.
The journey to and from Parliament is pomp. It's what is in the "Queen's" speech that sets the stage for the direction the government is intending to take the nation. The ceremony has been abbreviated previously but it does not distract from the "Business" of governing. It is the tradition and form of a functioning Constitutional Monarchy. You do you and let them do them. ?
The abolishment of the Ceremonial Opening of Parliament in Sweden, which matched or even trumped the grandeur of it's British counterpart, in 1975 was because it was seen as outdated, not compatible with a modern democracy and to put an emphasis on the government and it's policies instead of on the monarch. While I don't think, and certainly hope, that the change in Britain would be as drastic as in Sweden I could see how both parliament and monarch would favour a simplified ceremony. That said it's worth to remember that the ceremony we see today have already been simplified a lot after the reform of the House of Lords in the nineties.
For those interested in the Swedish ceremony here's a link to the one in 1960. The royals arrive at about 41 minutes in. Queen Louise, who's wearing the magnificent Leuchtenberg sapphires, was the sister of Princess Alice of Greece and therefore the aunt of Prince Philip.
I don't think the imperial crown will be ever worn again at the state opening. The present Queen certainly won't do it due to her advanced age and I think Charles will also drop it as part of a modernizing trend once he ascends.
Some Commonwealth realms like Australia, Canada and New Zealand have a "Speech from the Throne" read by the Governor General which could be a model for a slimmed-down state opening of the UK parliament.
Very interesting. Thank you! The boy on the balcony (with his mother, sisters, aunts & grandmother?) is I presume the present king?
It's certainly a very grand ceremony, a shame it's not in colour.
Is this inside the royal palace or the parliament building? If inside the parliament building was there a carriage/cavalry procession?
Yes, the boy is the current King Carl XVI Gustav together with his sisters, mother and step-grandmother. The cereemony was heald each year in January at the Hall of State in the Royal Palace.
Here´s a transmission in colour from the last time the ceremony was held in 1974. Princess Christina was at the time the First Lady of the Realm and it´s been said that she was very uncomfortable with appearing on the balcony alone during the ceremonies of 1973 and 1974. In 1973 , only 2 months after the death of her mother, she was heard to whisper "alone, alone, I´m all alone" before stepping out onto the balcony.
I guess we should continue talking somewhere in the Swedish threads before we get told off for being naughty
I don't think the imperial crown will be ever worn again at the state opening. The present Queen certainly won't do it due to her advanced age and I think Charles will also drop it as part of a modernizing trend once he ascends.
That what it looks like. I guess they can pretty much use the speech from the last one in Oct
They most definitely will not. That was an emergency Queen's speech from a government that had lost its majority in the House of Commons and whose continuity was in doubt.
This week's speech represents the legislative program of a newly elected government with an 80-seat majority, which will most likely last for another 5 years and, under the British parliamentary system of government, is pretty much free to do whatever it wants. It is probably going to be a much more detailed and ambitious Queen's speech then.
I saw this article in the Guardian over the weekend:
https://www.theguardian.com/politic...acob-rees-mogg-seeks-bold-and-ambitious-bills
Ignoring the political content, it seems the Government is preparing for the Queen's Speech and it got me thinking how this is going to happen.
At the moment, Parliament is socially distancing and so there are fewer MPs actually physically in the House. There is no way everyone can pack into the Lords as they usually do.
More intriguing though, how do people think they will manage the "Queen" bit. At 91, even a socially distanced speech in the Houses of Parliament would be out of the question. Is she going to give her speech from Buckingham Palace by Zoom? Will Prince Charles attend a scaled back and socially distanced opening and give the speech on behalf of the Queen?
I'm not sure whether anything similar has happened in the past - for example during the Queen's pregnancies? I'd be interested in reading people's views.
https://www.parliament.uk/about/faqs/house-of-lords-faqs/lords-stateopening/When will the next State Opening of Parliament take place?
The next State Opening is expected to be in 2021.
I wondered if the State Opening would happen at all, something to look forward too.
I too also look forward to the State Opening of Parliament this year, especially when a lot of Royal public events are cancelled or moved including Trooping of the Colour in Windsor this year. There was no opening last year, but two in 2019.
Parliament's working year comes to a close: 2019-21 session endsParliament's 2019–21 session has been brought to a close with a 'prorogation' announcement on Thursday 29 April 2021.
The House of Commons and the House of Lords will next sit for the State Opening of Parliament on Tuesday 11 May 2021.
(...)
What is prorogation?
Prorogation marks the formal end of the Parliamentary session. It usually takes the form of an announcement, read on behalf of the Queen, in the House of Lords chamber.
Will this again be a dressed down State Oepning without carrriage procession and the Queen in daywear?