State Opening of Parliament
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In the
The current Sovereign,
Preparation
The State Opening is a lavish ceremony. First, the cellars of the Palace of
Westminster are searched in order to prevent a modern-day
Before the monarch departs her residence, the Crown takes a member of the House of Commons to Buckingham Palace as a ceremonial hostage. This is to guarantee the safety of the Sovereign as she enters a possibly hostile Parliament. Today, with the convention that the majority of the government is drawn from the Commons, the symbolism becomes rather confused - the chosen hostage is usually the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household who, being a member of Her Majesty's Government, it can be assumed would not be hostile. The hostage is released upon the safe return of the Queen.
Before the arrival of the sovereign the
Arrival of the Sovereign
Summoning of the Commons
The Lord Great Chamberlain raises his wand of office to signal to the
"Mr/Madam Speaker, The Queen commands this honourable House to attend Her Majesty immediately in the House of Peers."
The Speaker proceeds to attend the summons at once. The Sergeant-at-Arms picks up the ceremonial mace and, with the Speaker, leads the Members of the House of Commons as they walk, in pairs,
towards the House of Lords. By custom, the members saunter, with much discussion and joking, rather than formally process. The
Delivery of the speech
The Queen reads a prepared speech, known as the Speech from the Throne
or the Queen's Speech, outlining her Government's agenda for the coming year. The speech is not written by the Queen, but
rather by the Cabinet, and reflects the legislative agenda they wish to pursue with the
agreement of the
The Queen reads the entire speech in the same tone, so as to indicate her neutrality, implying neither approval nor disapproval of the policies she is announcing. Since the Cabinet forms part of Her Majesty's Government, the Queen makes constant reference to "My Government" when reading the text. It is also customary for the Queen, after listing the main bills that will be introduced during the yearly session, to state: "other measures will be laid before you", thus giving the Government ability to introduce other bills, not mentioned in the speech. The speech is concluded by the Queen saying:
"My Lords and Members of the House of Commons, I pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon your councils".
Following the speech, the Commons bow again and return to their Chamber.
Traditionally, the Houses of Parliament listen to the speech respectfully, keeping total silence in the presence of the monarch, neither applauding nor showing dissent towards the speech's contents. This silence, however, was broken once in 1998, when the Queen announced the Government's plan of abolishing the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords. A few members cried "no" and "shame", prompting others to shout "yes" and "hear hear". The Queen continued delivering her speech without any pause, ignoring the intervention. The conduct of those who interrupted the speech was highly criticized at the time.
Debate on the speech
After the Queen leaves, each Chamber proceeds to the consideration of an "Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Gracious Speech."
But first, each House considers a bill pro forma to symbolize their right to deliberate independently of the monarch. In
the House of Lords, the bill is called the Select Vestries Bill, while the
Commons equivalent is the
Equivalents, Commonwealth and elsewhere
Similar ceremonies are held in Commonwealth realms where there are two houses of
In
In non-Commonwealth countries, there are also similar speeches by the Head of State.
For instance, in the United States, a former British colony, there is the State of the Union Address, and in the
In The Netherlands a similar ceremony is held on the third Tuesday in September and is called Prinsjesdag.
External links
- State Opening at UK Parliament website
- Costs of State Opening from Hansard
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