King Charles III Opens Parliament for the First Time as Monarch

King Charles outlined the British government’s legislative priorities during his opening address of Parliament. | By Reuters and The Associated Press•November 7, 2023

O Silicon Valley! Hurry! Move over! The Brits are coming. – Mark

Anti-Monarchy Protesters Shout at King Charles before King’s Speech at Parliament

Nov 7, 2023 | Anti-monarchy protesters shouted at King Charles as he headed to the Palace of Westminster for the King’s first speech to parliament as monarch. The King’s Speech contained 21 new pieces of legislation including proposals to introduce tougher sentencing laws, a ban on the sale of cigarettes and measures to increase oil production in the North Sea.

Wow! What can one say? I'm shocked! I have never seen anything like this in my country before. But, on second thoughts, one can say the following: Far too much privilege, ostentation and wealth on display in the face of abject poverty and suffering for so many. It's a case of billions for the few, but crumbs for the many. Diamonds, emeralds and rubies for the super-privileged few and foodbanks, tents and sleeping bags for the seriously underprivileged.

History tells us much about outcomes in such scenarios. Those in the Establishment need to put their thinking caps on! The successful government of tomorrow will not be the one that takes a man's right to smoke a cigarette away; rather, it will be the government that brings prosperity to the many. – © Mark Alexander

Gaza, Smoking and Crime: Key Points from King Charles’s State Opening Speech

Nov 7, 2023 | A raft of new laws – including measures on oil and gas licences, the establishment of a new football regulator, and moves to phase out cigarette smoking – have been included in the King’s Speech.

The proposed legislation was announced by King Charles III as he addressed Parliament in his first State Opening, as the monarch set out Rishi Sunak’s government’s policy agenda for the year ahead.

It is the first such speech King Charles III has made since assuming the throne last year. It is also the first of Mr Sunak’s tenure in No 10 – and most likely the last prior to an expected general election next year.


Looking at this splendour, it is hard to imagine that this man, the king, rules over a country with literally thousands upon thousands of food banks dotted throughout the country and, worse still, 271,000 homeless people in England, 123,000 of whom are children!

Yet all the vacuous Rishi Sunak can worry about is introducing ridiculous, undemocratic laws such as a smoking ban!

The longer this Tory government is in office, the more contempt it deserves! – © Mark Alexander

Queen Hands over to Charles for State Opening of Parliament

The Queen, seen at last year's State Opening of Parliament, will miss it for the first time in 59 years | CHRIS JACKSON
BBC: The Queen has pulled out of this year's State Opening of Parliament and the reading of the Queen's speech, Buckingham Palace has announced.

This will be the first time since 1963 that the Queen will have missed this constitutional ceremony, which sets out the government's legislative plans.

Prince Charles will deliver the speech on Tuesday for the Queen.

The 96-year-old monarch has mobility problems and has had to cancel a number of recent public appearances.

Until Monday evening Buckingham Palace had been saying the Queen hoped to attend, but has now confirmed she will not go the ceremony in Westminster, because of "episodic mobility problems". » | Sean Coughlan, Royal correspondent | Monday, May 8, 2022

Royaume-Uni : la reine absente pour le discours du trône et remplacée par le prince Charles : En raison de «problèmes de mobilité», le palais de Buckingham a annoncé que la monarque avait décidé «à contrecœur» de ne pas se rendre devant le Parlement britannique. »

State Opening of Parliament 2015

TAGES ANZEIGER: «Meine Regierung wird die Beziehung zur EU neu verhandeln» : Werden die Briten bald aus der EU austreten? Queen Elizabeth hat in ihrer Thronrede das Referendum angekündigt – und das Jahresprogramm der Regierung vorgestellt. » | Mittwoch, 27. Mai 2015

LE POINT: Grande-Bretagne : un long chemin vers le Brexit: Lors du discours du Trône, la reine Elizabeth II a officiellement annoncé la tenue d'un référendum sur une sortie de l'UE. Mais l'heure reste à la prudence. » | mercredi 27 mai 2015

Queen's Speech Sets Out Election Battle Lines
THE TELEGRAPH: The Government has unveiled its final legislative package before the General Election, with the Queen's Speech containing pledges to help the neediest pensioners and crack down on excesses in the financial sector.

The unashamedly political address made clear to the public Labour's "aspirations" for a fourth term, including free care in old age for the elderly, and action on child poverty, according to Lord Mandelson, the First Secretary.

Speaking ahead of the speech on BBC Radio 4's today programme, Lord Mandelson denied accusations that this year's speech was lacking in substance.

With less than seven months before the country must go to the polls, Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, put forward a series of populist bills designed to set out election battle lines in what is the final legislative programme before next year's vote.

As well as ensuring free personal care for 280,000 elderly and disabled people with the highest needs, there were guarantees on health care and schooling as well as a crackdown on "risky" bank bonuses.

With parliamentary time running out, few, if any, of the streamlined package of around 15 new bills stand much chance of making it to the statute book before Parliament is dissolved.

The Queen told the assembled MPs and peers: "My Government's overriding priority is to ensure sustained growth to deliver a fair and prosperous economy for families and businesses, as the British economy recovers from the global economic downturn. >>> Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent | Wednesday, November 18, 2009



TIMES ONLINE: Queen's Speech: 15 Bills, but only 33 days left of Parliament >>> Sam Coates, Chief Political Correspondent | Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Britische Regierung will Staatsdefizit halbieren: Regierungserklärung von Queen mit traditioneller Thronrede verlesen
NZZ ONLINE: Die britische Regierung plant für das kommende Parlamentsjahr ein Gesetz zur Halbierung des Staatsdefizits und zur Begrenzung der Sonderzahlungen für risikofreudige Bankmanager. Diese Absicht gab die Queen in ihrer Thronrede bekannt.

Traditioneller Pomp: Die Queen beim Einzug in das Oberhaus vor ihrer Thronrede. Bild: NZZ Online
Die alles übertreffende Priorität meiner Regierung liegt darin, in der gegenwärtigen Phase der Erholung von der globalen Rezession ein nachhaltiges Wirtschaftswachstum sicherzustellen und eine faire und florierende Wirtschaft für Familien und Geschäftsleute zu ermöglichen», hiess es in der sogenannten Thronrede zur Eröffnung des neuen Parlamentsjahres.

Zugleich mit der Reduktion des Staatsdefizits soll das soziale Netz enger geknüpft werden, besonders für bedürftige Rentner. Dies sind einige der Kernpunkte in Premierminister Gordon Browns alljährlicher Regierungserklärung, die am Mittwoch nach alter Tradition von Königin Elizabeth II. im Londoner Oberhaus verlesen wurde. Viele Beobachter werteten die Erklärung vor allem als Wahlkampfmanifest der Labour Party. >>> ap | Mittwoch, 18. November 2009

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Photogallery: Queen’s Speech Opens Parliament: Royal pageantry met hard-nosed electioneering as Queen Elizabeth II donned the diamond-encrusted Imperial State Crown to announce the government’s plan for the next parliamentary session >>>

Related WSJ article >>>

Police State UK: MPs Threaten to Disrupt State Opening of Parliament
THE TELEGRAPH: MPs are threatening to disrupt this week's State Opening of Parliament in protest at the arrest of the shadow minister Damian Green.

The signal for a week of unrest in Westminster came after the Leader of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman, said that she was "very concerned indeed" at the threat to "fundamental principles" posed by the affair.

She called on Michael Martin, the Speaker, to order a formal inquiry into the decision to allow a police search of Mr Green's Parliamentary office. Mr Martin was under pressure from MPs on all sides to issue an apology after personally allowing the police access to the Commons.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, faced further criticism for refusing to intervene in the row or apologise to Mr Green, the Conservative immigration spokesman. Instead, she used a television interview to defend the police's tactics.

She claimed that it would be "Stalinist" for politicians to intervene in the inquiry – a reference to how Mr Green's arrest had been compared to state control during the Soviet era. Mr Green, who had made a series of embarrassing disclosures after receiving leaked Whitehall documents, was arrested and had his property searched last Thursday in an operation involving 20 police officers. He was bailed on suspicion of conspiring to break the archaic law of "misconduct in public office".

It has emerged that MPs were privately discussing whether to protest during the debate on Wednesday's Queen's Speech if Mr Martin did not act. Senior Conservative figures said they might even organise a walkout from Parliament if the authorities did not apologise.

In The Daily Telegraph on Monday, Denis MacShane, a former Labour minister, describes the affair as "a mammoth breach in the core democratic doctrine of parliamentary privilege." >>> By Robert Winnett and Richard Edwards | November 30, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH: Damian Green Arrest: Video Footage of Police Search Released

Video footage of counter-terrorist police officers searching the Parliamentary office of a senior Conservative minister has been released.


The release of the footage on David Cameron's personal website has escalated the stand-off between the Conservatives and the authorities. Officers are seen being confronted by a senior Tory MP and preparing to search Damian Green's confidential files.

The video shows Andrew Mackay, Senior Parliamentary and Political Adviser to the Conservative leader, entering Mr Green's office and confronting the officers carrying out the search. He is asked to leave. A police camera used to photograph evidence is clearly visible.

Dominic Grieve, the shadow Home Secretary, said: "These pictures document a dark day for democracy. They show Officers from the Metropolitan police searching the office of Damian Green - an MP who was guilty only of doing his job.

"MPs are not above the law. But they must be allowed to bring the Government to account and to put into the public domain information which may be uncomfortable for Ministers." >>> By Robert Winnett | December 2, 2008

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