Today in the House of Lords, His Majesty the King has given the first King’s Most Gracious Speech in over 70 years since the passing of his mother The Queen last year. It is not the first time he’s given the speech as he stood in for HM The Queen in the previous State Opening in May 2022.
This speech is given during the State Opening of Parliament which is the only regular event that brings together in the Palace of Westminster the three constituent factions of the UK Government: the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the Sovereign.
The State Opening occurs after a general election or at the beginning of a new session within the current Parliament which is roughly once a year but could run longer than that during the usual five year life of a Parliament by which a general election must be called.
Whilst a general election must occur every five years, there’s nothing stopping a determined Prime Minister from holding a snap general election in the middle of a Parliament when they feel it’s to their advantage to do so to strengthen their majority and reset the clock for the next general election which Boris Johnson was able to substantially strengthen his majority in 2019 two years into a Parliament that had just been elected in 2017 in a disastrous snap election after the Brexit referendum that saw then Prime Minister Theresa May lose her working majority and have to enter into coalition with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland.
The State Opening is truly a spectacle of pomp and circumstance that is unmatched anywhere else in the world and is a shining example of the British penchant for extravagant ceremony and enshrining of ancient traditions.
The Yeoman of the Guard conducted a ceremonial search of the Palace for gunpowder (a tradition since the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament in 1605) and the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household Jo Churchill MP was “kidnapped” and “held hostage” at Buckingham Palace prior to the arrival of King Charles to ensure the King’s safe return after the State Opening.
The Imperial State Crown and other regalia are brought to Westminster by horse-drawn coach as are the King and Queen who are robed in the King’s apartments within the Palace before making their way to the ornate thrones at the head of the House of Lords.
Once they are seated, the Gentleman (or now Lady!) Usher of the Black Rod is despatched to command the members of the House of Commons on the other side of the Palace to attend His Majesty in the House of peers. She begins a long trek down the hallway and as she approaches the doors to the Commons, the doors are slammed in her face as a show of the independence of the Commons from the Sovereign.
She then raises the rod that gives her office its name and bangs on a very well beaten part of the door three times to demand entrance so that she may summon the members to the Lords. Sadly, it appears that no one has taken up the tradition of cracking a sarcastic joke in the silence just before Black Rod delivers her orders for the Commons to attend His Majesty that was made famous (or infamous depending on your view) by Dennis Skinner, the Beast of Bolsover.
The members then follow Black Rod and the Speaker of the House of Commons back down the corridor to the end of the Lords opposite the throne to hear the Most Gracious Speech.
Even though it is the Sovereign who delivers the speech from the throne, it is the Prime Minister’s Government who actually writes the speech which lays out the anticipated legislative programme and policies His Majesty’s Government of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland intend to pursue in the new session of Parliament.
The King had absolutely no say in the content of this speech reflecting the tradition that the Sovereign remains politically neutral and does not get involved in the day-to-day affairs of the government that is operated in their name. Legislation that is passed through the two Houses automatically receive the Royal Assent which is the final step before that legislation becomes law.
That’s not to say that the Sovereign doesn’t have any political power. Theoretically they could withhold the Royal Assent on a bill they find particularly odious but as the Assent has not been withheld since Queen Anne in 1708, I don’t think we will ever see a royal veto in the UK ever again.
But the Prime Minister has a weekly audience that’s usually about a hour (unless the Sovereign gets bored before that) which they can privately put their view on current events and legislation to the Prime Minister who would be wise to not dismiss them out of hand, particularly given how much experience HM The Queen had during her extraordinarily long reign.
Thus, the Most Gracious Speech is usually relatively bland and devoid of major controversy but this particular one had a line that really caught my attention:
Legislation will be introduced to strengthen the United Kingdom’s energy security, and reduce reliance on volatile international energy markets and hostile foreign regimes. This Bill will support the future licensing of new oil and gas fields, helping the country to transition to net zero by 2050 without adding undue burdens on households.
His Majesty’s Most Gracious Speech – 07 Nov 2023
I’ll readily admit that I’ve never been a real fan of King Charles through the years and would have been perfectly content for his mother to reign for many years longer. When I said “God Save the Queen”, I assure you I meant it with every fibre of my being.
But even though I deplored his adulterous behaviour with the current Queen and his treatment of Diana through the years after their separation and before her tragic death in Paris, the one thing you could not fault Charles was his consistent and very public devotion to causes protecting the environment and combating climate change.
Whoever in the government that inserted that first line toward the beginning of the Speech where the most important policies are usually promoted must really hate the King knowing just how much he had to be gritting his teeth reciting that line in his first Speech as King.
Alongside this, my Ministers will seek to attract record levels of investment in renewable energy sources and reform grid connections, building on the United Kingdom’s track-record of decarbonising faster than other G7 economies.
His Majesty’s Most Gracious Speech – 07 Nov 2023
I’m sure the King would more readily agree with this line that followed the offending one but the damage was already done by prioritising oil and petrochemicals ahead of it.
I’d imagine the next Audience is going to be rather interesting for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak because I can’t imagine King Charles allowing that insult to pass unchallenged.
Charles clearly respects tradition too much to publicly reprimand his Prime Minister but the monotone delivery of the Speech, the body language, and occasional hints of seething anger round that particular line won’t stop him from making it very clear in private that he was mightily displeased to have been used in such a fashion to support policies on petroleum and petrochemicals he’s been on record for decades as being implacably opposed and their effect upon this planet’s climate.
Speaking of respecting tradition, I do have to say that King Charles has done admirably well to stay in his lane and within the constitutional restrictions upon his powers as Monarch.
He certainly had plenty of years to be trained up on how to do the job properly by one of the best that ever sat on that throne but there were times when he was very outspoken as Prince of Wales that one wondered if he might well try to fight and resist the traditional constitutional and political restrictions placed upon the modern UK monarch once he ascended the throne.
So far, he seems to be doing the job well and I’d imagine his mother would have been well pleased.
Once the Speech was delivered and the King and Queen leave the throne, the members of the House of Commons adjourn to their side of the Palace as both Houses then begin a debate known as The Most Humble Address to the King in response to the Most Gracious Speech.
In the Commons, this is an opportunity for the Government to tell how awesome their policies outlined in the Speech are and for His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition (which is really an Opposition in Exile as opposed to the Home Civil Service which is the opposition in residence!) to say that the Government’s agenda is utter bollocks and then they’re off into the new session’s business.
The Humble Address in the Lords is generally more restrained and collegial owing to their subordination to the supremacy of the House of Commons amongst the three constituent parts of the UK Government.