Prince Charles, heir to the crown of England, has replaced his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in the task of giving the opening speech of the new legislature in the British Parliament and reading the program of the Government of Boris Johnson. It is the first time since 1963 that the monarch has not attended the House of Lords to open the parliamentary year.
The queen, 96 years old and who has been sick with covid, has less and less ability to move and her condition has forced her to follow the act, one of the most representative of the monarchical exercise, from Buckingham Palace.
However, the queen has been represented in the Lower House by her crown, which has been present throughout the speech alongside the Prince of Wales. Even so, the relay has enormous symbolic importance: the end of an era is approaching.
This is only the third time throughout her reign that Elizabeth II has not been able to read the Queen’s Speech. On the two previous occasions, the monarch did not participate in it due to her pregnancy with Prince Andrew, in 1959, and Edward, in 1963.
In a clear sign of a transition within the British monarchy, the 73-year-old Prince of Wales has assumed the functions of head of state, and has been accompanied by his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and their son eldest, the Duke of Cambridge, who is attending this ceremony for the first time.
At the ceremony, in addition to the Prince of Wales, the queen’s grandson and second in line of succession, William, Duke of Cambridge, was also present.
Prince Charles has opened the inaugural session of the year of the British Parliament accompanied by a royal pomp typical of pre-pandemic times. Dressed in an admiral’s uniform and maintaining his tone of voice with the neutrality required by the role, the heir to the crown has read the Queen’s Speech, which, although written by the government, is traditionally read by the monarch.
The Prince of Wales, dressed in military uniform, has read in just ten minutes the general lines of the Executive’s program for the next parliamentary period.
Johnson’s plan contains 38 pieces of legislation, including measures to alleviate the high cost of living, due to the increase in inflation and energy prices, and boost economic growth in order to reduce the economic and social inequalities that exist between the different areas of the country
The Executive hopes to introduce a legislative project aimed at modifying community laws that remained in force after Brexit. Among other things, the Government will present a project with which it wants to stop the growing protests of some environmental groups, with the imposition of sentences of up to 12 months in prison for interfering in the activity of airports or railways.
This measure is intended to limit the activity of organizations such as ‘Insulate Britain’ and ‘Extinction Rebellion’, which in recent years have taken drastic measures, such as blocking highways, to draw attention to the climate crisis. Some opposition parties, such as the Liberal Democrats, consider these plans “dangerous and draconian”.
Another piece of legislation is related to the media, with which the Government hopes to give the green light to the privatization of Channel 4 television.
The Government hopes to be able to carry out these laws by having a majority in the House of Commons.
4
