👑💬 POMP AND POLITICS: King Charles delivers historic King’s Speech from House of Lords throne after royal procession from Buckingham Palace

Charles was joined by Queen Camilla at the State Opening of Parliament today to set out the priorities for beleaguered Sir Keir Starmer’s government in the King’s Speech.

The monarch said the Government will take ‘urgent action to tackle antisemitism and ensure all communities feel safe’ and ‘defend the British values of decency, tolerance and respect for difference under our common flag’.

The King also revealed the Government will legislate in response to the ‘horrific attack’ in Southport in 2024 with measures to ‘protect the British people from extreme violence, and honour the victims, the injured and their families’.

The King’s Speech ran to 1,285 words, making it one of the longest monarch’s speeches at a State Opening of Parliament this century. It was also one of the most legislation-heavy speeches of recent years, containing a total of 37 Bills.

A sudden hush had descended on peers as the King arrived in Parliament. He and the Queen processed up the stairs after he had left his carriage.

The Lord Chancellor David Lammy was seen ahead of them and a fanfare was played as the King and Queen left the robing room, processing through the Royal Gallery.

As he arrived in the Lords, wearing the crown after being robed, the King sat on the throne alongside Camilla. He was accompanied by six pages of honour, four of which are his, and two for the Queen.

Black Rod Ed Davis, the senior Lords officer, also arrived at the Commons to summon MPs to listen to the King’s Speech.

Per tradition, the door to the chamber was slammed in Black Rod’s face, who must bang the door three times before being given permission to enter.

As he banged on the door, a backbench MP shouted: ‘Not now Andy.’

Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle led the procession of MPs and was followed by Sir Keir and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch who was seen chatting to the Prime Minister.

Sir Keir could be seen sitting next to Shabana Mahmood. The Home Secretary has reportedly told the Prime Minister to consider his position.

About 20 MPs stayed in the Commons while the King’s Speech took place in the House of Lords.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting could be seen stood in the House of Commons alongside the Speaker’s chair.

Earlier, the King and Queen left Buckingham Palace in the Irish State Coach pulled by six grey horses as they travelled to the State Opening of Parliament.

They were accompanied by a Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry as they travelled in the carriage procession to the House of Lords.

The Irish State Coach – made in Ireland and exhibited in 1853 at the Great Industrial Exhibition in Dublin – is a closed carriage with dark brown body panels decorated with golden scrolls.

The coach-maker was hoping to attract the attention of two distinguished visitors – and when Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert saw it, they bought it.

It went on to become one of Queen Victoria’s favourite carriages and she used it often after her husband’s death.

It was completely rebuilt after all its woodwork was destroyed by fire in 1911 and it was entirely re-painted and re-gilded in the 1980s.

The King was wearing his Admiral of the Fleet Royal Naval Number 1 Dress with cap and sword.

In the Robing Room at the House of Lords, Charles put on the Imperial State Crown and his crimson Robe of State, which was made for his grandfather George VI’s coronation in 1937.

The Queen’s famous George IV State Diadem was worn countless times by the late Queen during her reign and was probably the most well-recognised of all her pieces of jewellery.

It is composed of four diamond pave-set crosses pattee alternating with four bouquets of rose, shamrock and thistle.

Set with 1,333 brilliant-cut diamonds, it was made for George IV’s extravagant coronation in 1821 and Elizabeth II usually wore it for her journey to and from the State Opening.

Camilla was dressed in her crimson Robe of State, which was made for Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, in the Robing Room.

Following in the second carriage, the Glass Coach, behind the King and Queen were Camilla’s Queen’s Companions and close friends the Marchioness of Lansdowne and Lady Sarah Keswick.

They were joined by Master of the Horse Lord Ashton of Hyde and the Lord Steward of the Royal Household the Earl of Rosslyn.

Lord Ashton of Hyde is a former Conservative chief whip and he was appointed as Master of the Horse, a largely ceremonial role, by the King in 2024.

The holder in centuries past was responsible for the sovereign’s horses, coaches and travel arrangements, and today is titular head of the Royal Mews, which looks after royal vehicles such as state Bentleys and carriages.

Anti-monarchy protesters held up signs asking ‘did you know?’ – referring to the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor scandal – as the King’s carriage drove towards Parliament.

Yellow placards had individual black letters that spelt out the question when held aloft at about 11.15am on Parliament Street.

Organising group Republic is demanding the monarch be replaced by an elected head of state.

About 30 yards away from the Republic protesters another group shouted ‘free Palestine’ as the King passed in his carriage.

Earlier, the Crown Regalia – the Imperial State Crown, the Cap of Maintenance and the Sword of State – also left Buckingham Palace on its way to the House of Lords.

The ancient symbols of royal authority were ferried in a carriage, Queen Alexandra’s State Coach, drawn by four Bay Horses.

The Imperial State Crown – the famous symbol of the monarchy – is a working crown and worn by the monarch at state openings of Parliament.

It contains 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, five rubies and more than 270 pearls, and weighs more than a kilogram.

Among its jewels is the Black Prince’s Ruby – one of the late Queen’s favourite gems – as well as the Cullinan II diamond and a large oval sapphire known as the Stuart Sapphire.

Charles also wore the priceless crown on his return journey to the palace after his coronation, but he was crowned in the 17th-century golden St Edward’s Crown.

The Crown Regalia arrived at the Houses of Parliament at 10.30am on a grey rainy day in London with a heavy shower of hailstones hitting the city.

Outlining the priorities of Sir Keir Starmer’s Government in his speech, the King said the UK faced an ‘increasingly dangerous and volatile world’.

He said: ‘My Lords and members of the House of Commons.

‘An increasingly dangerous and volatile world threatens the United Kingdom, with the conflict in the Middle East only the most recent example. Every element of the nation’s energy, defence and economic security will be tested.

‘My Government will respond to this world with strength and aim to create a country that is fair for all. My ministers will take decisions that protect the energy, defence and economic security of the United Kingdom for the long-term.

‘They will defend the British values of decency, tolerance and respect for difference under our common flag, and they will harness the potential of the pride felt across this country for its communities. My Government will take urgent action to tackle antisemitism and ensure all communities feel safe.

‘My Government believes that the United Kingdom’s economic security depends on raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom. My ministers will support measures that maintain stability and control the cost of living.

‘They will use public investment to shape markets and attract further private investment. They will deploy the power of an active state in partnership with business and enable reforms that support higher growth and a fair deal for working people.’

The King said his Government will introduce new legislation to ‘strengthen ties with the European Union’.

Addressing Parliament, Charles said: ‘My Government believes that improved trading relations are vital for the United Kingdom’s economic security, for significantly raising economic growth, and for lowering prices for working people.

‘My Ministers will introduce legislation to take advantage of new trading opportunities, including a Bill to strengthen ties with the European Union.

‘My Government will also support the economic security of British businesses.’

He said legislation will be introduced to tackle late payments and ‘to reduce the burden of unnecessary regulation through innovation’.

The European Partnership Bill will provide a framework to adopt EU rules where the Government strikes deals with Brussels.

The Government will legislate in response to the ‘horrific attack’ in Southport in 2024, the King said.

He said: ‘They will respond to the horrific attack in Southport with measures to protect the British people from extreme violence, and honour the victims, the injured and their families.’

The Government said the National Security Bill will seek to clamp down on extremist threats to the country, criminalise harmful online content and make planning mass attacks a specific criminal offence.

Meanwhile a draft Bill to introduce a ‘trans-inclusive’ conversion therapy ban was promised in the King’s Speech.

The Government said it would move to stamp out ‘abusive’ practices with proposed legislation, in line with a pledge from its 2024 election manifesto.

Officials say the ban will be balanced and targeted, so as not to impinge on legitimate healthcare and other forms of support for people exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Ministers reiterated their commitment to outlaw conversion practices last June, saying a ban would be brought forward ‘within the next nine months,’ but it has since been delayed.

The Draft Conversion Practices Bill was included in King’s Speech.

It will only apply to England and Wales because criminal law is devolved in other UK administrations, and will be published for pre-legislative scrutiny, which officials said was to allow for expert and stakeholder opinion to be sought.

A ban on conversion therapy, which aims to suppress or change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, was first promised in 2018, by former Conservative prime minister Theresa May.

It was later downgraded under Boris Johnson’s leadership to not include transgender people, but the Conservative government under Rishi Sunak said in January 2023 that the conversion therapy ban would be for ‘everyone’, including transgender people.

This did not come to pass, with the Tories saying legislation around such practices ‘is a very complex issue, with existing criminal law already offering robust protections’.