Queen Elizabeth II is supposed to do the State Opening of Parliament on May 10th. Before the pandemic, the Queen would show up in a gown and loaded down with jewelry, although for years, she hasn’t worn the Imperial State Crown because it’s too heavy. So the Imperial State Crown is carried into Parliament on its own little Imperial Cushion. During the pandemic, the State Opening of Parliament was a more subdued affair, with the Queen in a coatdress and everyone social-distanced. So what will this year’s opening entail? Well, they’re not even sure the Queen will come.
The Queen still plans to attend the State Opening of Parliament next Tuesday, Buckingham Palace has revealed – but measures are in place to minimise the distance she would have to walk amid her ongoing mobility issues.
Her Majesty will need to walk from a car to the building then through the Robing Room to the Lords Chamber, and she will then have to take three steps up to her throne, from which she delivers her Speech. If the Queen was unable to attend, the likely candidate to read the Speech would be the monarch’s son Prince Charles.
Buckingham Palace has said the Queen ‘plans to attend’ the event but that this would be confirmed on the day. It would be the most high-profile constitutional event she has been able to go to for two years. The 96-year-old monarch will travel by car from Buckingham Palace to Westminster on Tuesday under the current plans. She has not used a carriage since 2019 as she finds her state limousine more comfortable.
There will also be a slimmed down – but still spectacular – military ceremony with fewer troops but the same standards of pomp and military splendour involving eight different units, including The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. As the Queen’s car leaves the palace a royal salute will take place and the National Anthem will be played.
She no longer wears her Imperial Crown or Robes of State given their weight and awkwardness and instead wears smart day dress. In 2016 the Queen used a lift rather than the stairs for the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in 64 years.
As I said, the Queen had already made some adaptations to the whole rigmarole and she should absolutely not be required to wear the robes or the crown. Why not adapt it further? Why not allow the Queen to come in a wheelchair? How long are they going to cancel events simply because they can’t break out of this idea that the Queen needs to walk everywhere? Jesus.
Meanwhile, did you guys see the headlines about the monarchy losing tons of support among the youths? British people under the age of 25 are more likely to want Britain to become a democracy rather than continue with the monarchy. It’s being framed as “a problem for the Queen,” but surely it’s a bigger problem for Charles.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II (C) reacts as she attends the State Opening of Parliament in the Houses of Parliament in London on October 14, 2019. – The State Opening of Parliament is where Queen Elizabeth II performs her ceremonial duty of informing parliament about the government’s agenda for the coming year in a Queen’s Speech.,Image: 539313796, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- London, United Kingdom. State Opening of Parliament. Royal Gallery. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince Charles, walks through the Royal Gallery before delivering her speech at the State Opening of Parliament.,Image: 539313887, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- Britain’s Queen Elizabeth sits on the Sovereign’s Throne next to Prince Charles before reading the Queen’s Speech during the State Opening of Parliament at the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain December 19, 2019.,Image: 541215823, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 11: Queen Elizabeth II arrives with Prince Charles, Prince of Wales in the House of Lord’s Chamber during the State Opening of Parliament at the House of Lords on May 11, 2021 in London, England.,Image: 610284265, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 11: Queen Elizabeth II ahead of the Queen’s Speech in the House of Lord’s Chamber during the State Opening of Parliament at the House of Lords on May 11, 2021 in London, England.,Image: 610288342, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 11: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall during the State Opening of Parliament at the House of Lords on May 11, 2021 in London, England.,Image: 610288433, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- Queen Elizabeth II during the State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster in London.
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- The Imperial State Crown is carried in to the State Opening of Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II, in the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster in London.
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- Queen Elizabeth II, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall during the State Opening of Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II, in the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster in London.
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- Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II (L) arrives with David Cholmondeley, Marquess of Cholmondeley, (2L) to attend the State Opening of Parliament in the Houses of Parliament in London on October 14, 2019. – The State Opening of Parliament is where Queen Elizabeth II performs her ceremonial duty of informing parliament about the government’s agenda for the coming year in a Queen’s Speech.
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- Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II (L) takes her seat on the The Sovereign’s Throne in the House of Lords next to Britain’s Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (R) before reading the Queen’s Speech during the State Opening of Parliament in the Houses of Parliament in London on October 14, 2019. – The State Opening of Parliament is where Queen Elizabeth II performs her ceremonial duty of informing parliament about the government’s agenda for the coming year in a Queen’s Speech.
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- Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II (CL) reads the Queen’s Speech on the The Sovereign’s Throne in the House of Lords next to Britain’s Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (CR) during the State Opening of Parliament in the Houses of Parliament in London on October 14, 2019. – The State Opening of Parliament is where Queen Elizabeth II performs her ceremonial duty of informing parliament about the government’s agenda for the coming year in a Queen’s Speech.
The monarchy didn’t move fast enough to modernize like those in the Netherlands and elsewhere. Of course the young people don’t want it. What’s the point when you have the BREXIT mess and people not having enough to feed themselves. The government in the UK is a mess in a whole other way than the U.S. right now.
Someone needs to tick some poles on the handles of a wheelchair, cover it all with velvet, then get a glue gun, some rhinestones and fake jewels, and bejewel the hell out of it… and voilá! A “throne” fit for a queen to be pushed around in.
I guess a ghost monarch is better in Lizzie’s mind, than one that needs a wheelchair to be seen in the flesh.
Someone needs to stick some poles on the handles of a wheelchair, cover it all with velvet, then get a glue gun, some rhinestones and fake jewels, and bejewel the hell out of it… and voilá! A “throne” fit for a queen to be pushed around in.
I guess a ghost monarch is better in Lizzie’s mind, than one that needs a wheelchair to be seen in the flesh.
This is obviously more Charles’ problem than Elizabeth’s.
Thank goodness for the “youths”!!! Love them.
The BM could use this to highlight accessibility and accommodations issues in public buildings and the workplace.
But of course they act like it’s 1822 and treat a mobility aid as if it’s some shameful thing.