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Their Majesties drove in a Carriage Procession, escorted by a Sovereign's Escort of The Household Cavalry, under the command of Major William Charlesworth, The Blues and Royals, and were received at the Sovereign's Entrance by the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain.

Guards of Honour were mounted at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster by 1st Battalion Welsh Guards with The King's Colour, under the command of Major Andrew Campbell.

A staircase party of The Household Cavalry was on duty at Victoria Tower, House of Lords, under the command of Major Dean Owens.

Royal Salutes were fired in Green Park by The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, under the command of Major John Baileff, and from the Tower of London Saluting Battery by the Honourable Artillery Company, under the command of Major Amanda Wheeler.

The Imperial State Crown, the Cap of Maintenance and the Sword of State were conveyed previously to the House of Lords in a Carriage Procession, escorted by a Regalia Escort of the Household Cavalry.

His Majesty's Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms was on duty in the Prince's Chamber and The King's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard was on duty in the Royal Gallery.

The King's Bargemaster and Watermen were on duty.

The Ladies and Gentlemen of the Household and the Pages of Honour to The King (the Hon. Guy Tryon, the Hon. William Sackville, the Hon. Alfred Wellesley and Ralph Tollemache) and the Pages of Honour to The Queen (William Keswick and Arthur Elliott) were in attendance at the Palace of Westminster.

Their Majesties returned to Buckingham Palace and were received by the Lord Chamberlain and the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household.”

Extracted from the Houses of Parliament website

The State Opening of Parliament marks the formal start of the parliamentary year and the King's Speech sets out the government's agenda for the coming session, outlining proposed policies and legislation. It is the only regular occasion when the three constituent parts of Parliament – the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons – meet.

The State Opening happens on the first day of a new parliamentary session or shortly after a general election.

This State Opening this year took place on Wednesday 17 July 2024.

The previous State Opening, His Majesty King Charles's first as Monarch, took place on 7 November 2023, at the start of the 2023-24 session of Parliament.

Prior to this, State Opening of Parliament took place on 10 May 2022, at the start of the 2022-23 session. On this occasion, Parliament was opened by the then Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge as Counsellors of State for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II presided over the State Opening of Parliament in person on 67 occasions during her reign.

Queen Elizabeth II opened Parliament in person all but three times during her reign. Two exceptions were in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. In 2022, Parliament was opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge acting as Counsellors of State on behalf of the Queen. The ceremony has changed very little throughout her reign.

State Opening: how it happens

State Opening is the main ceremonial event of the parliamentary calendar. The event begins with the King’s procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster, escorted by the Household Cavalry.

The King arrives at Sovereign's Entrance and proceeds to the Robing Room. Wearing the Imperial State Crown and the Robe of State, he leads the Royal Procession through the Royal Gallery, packed with 600 guests, to the chamber of the House of Lords.

The House of Lords official known as Black Rod is sent to summon the Commons. The doors to the Commons chamber are shut in her face: a practice dating back to the Civil War, symbolising the Commons' independence from the monarchy. Black Rod strikes the door three times before it is opened. Members of the House of Commons then follow Black Rod and the Speaker of the House of Commons to the Lords chamber, standing at the opposite end to the Throne, known as the Bar of the House, to listen to the speech.

The King's Speech

The King’s Speech is delivered by the King from the Throne in the House of Lords. Although the King reads the Speech, it is written by the government. It contains an outline of its policies and proposed legislation for the new parliamentary session.

After the King’s Speech

When the King leaves, a new parliamentary session starts and Parliament gets to work. Members of both Houses debate the content of the speech and agree an ‘Address in Reply to His Majesty's Gracious Speech'. Each House continues the debate over the planned legislative programme for several days, looking at different subject areas. The King’s Speech is voted on by the Commons, but rarely in the Lords.

State Opening – History

Traditions surrounding the State Opening and the delivery of a speech by the Monarch can be traced back as far as the 16th century. The current ceremony dates from the opening of the rebuilt Palace of Westminster in 1852 after the fire of 1834.

The State Opening is a royal ceremony of great antiquity – well-established by the late fourteenth century – which marks the start of a parliamentary year.

It is customary for the Sovereign to be present at the ceremony, which serves as a symbolic reminder of the unity of the three constituent parts of Parliament: the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The broad outlines of the ceremony have remained largely unchanged for centuries: a procession by the Sovereign to the Palace of Westminster is followed by the assembling of the Members of both Houses, and the reading of the Speech.

Within these outlines, however, there have been adaptations and innovations. For example, from its origins until 1679, the ceremony was usually preceded by a mass at Westminster Abbey, but this was discontinued during the reign of King Charles II for fear of assassination plots.

To take another example, Sovereigns in the 16th and 17th centuries used to process to Parliament aboard the Royal Barge on the River Thames.

The modern state opening ceremony dates to 1852, when the new Palace of Westminster was opened. The route within Parliament that the KIng follows today was used by Queen Victoria for the first time in 1852.

The public sequence of events

The public elements of the ceremony begin just before 11am, when members of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment lead the procession from Buckingham Palace.

A coach carrying the royal regalia - the Imperial State Crown, the Cap of Maintenance and Sword of State – precedes the monarch.

The Sovereign's Bargemaster and four Royal Watermen serve as boxmen on the coaches, acting as ceremonial bodyguards of the King and guards of the regalia.

The royal procession

The royal procession makes its way along The Mall, through Horse Guards Parade, down Whitehall and Parliament Street. All along the route are posted members of Britain's armed forces who ‘present arms' as the royal party passes. They contribute to the pageantry of the day as well as provide security and crowd control.

The procession arrives at the Palace of Westminster at 11.15am. The King enters through the Sovereign's Entrance under the Victoria Tower, at the opposite end of the palace to Big Ben, and the royal standard replaces the union flag over Westminster until the King leaves the Palace at the end of the ceremony.

Inside the Palace, the King dons the Imperial State Crown and ceremonial robes before making his way to the House of Lords, attended by various members of the Royal Household.

Within Parliament

The assembly in the House of Lords chamber includes members of the Lords, dressed in traditional scarlet robes and ermine capes, ambassadors and high commissioners, judges, and visiting dignitaries and heads of state.

The King is seated on the throne in the Lords chamber at approximately 11.30am. A well-known tradition of the ceremony commences: Black Rod is dispatched to the House of Commons to summon MPs to hear the King's Speech.

Upon Black Rod's approach, the Serjeant at Arms of the Commons slams the doors in her face. She knocks ceremonially upon the doors three times and is given permission to enter. Black Rod then approachs the Table and announces the King's summons.

This ritual symbolises the right of the Commons to exclude royal messengers, and commemorates the events of 1642, the last time a sovereign entered the Commons, when King Charles I tried to arrest five MPs.

The Commons' Speaker and Black Rod then lead MPs in procession to the House of Lords. Tradition has it that MPs amble to the Lords noisily, to show their independence.

MPs crowd into the space between the doors and the bar of the chamber to hear the Speech from the Throne, which is delivered in a neutral tone by the King and received in silence by the assembly.

After the speech, the King returns by coach to Buckingham Palace. His exit is heralded by military trumpeters, and the royal standard is replaced by the union flag.

Elements unseen by the public

Some of the most well-known elements of the State Opening take place out of the public eye.

Before the Sovereign's arrival at Parliament, the Yeomen of the Guard, the royal bodyguards, ceremonially search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster for explosives.

This commemorates Guy Fawkes's ‘gunpowder plot' of 1605 – a failed attempt by English Catholics to blow up the Protestant King James I and Parliament.

Another reminder of the violence and intrigue historically surrounding relationships between the Commons and the Crown is the fact that a Member of the Commons is ceremonially held hostage in Buckingham Palace while the Sovereign attends the Palace, to ensure the King's safe return.

This tradition stems from the time of Charles I, who had a contentious relationship with Parliament and was eventually beheaded in 1649 at the conclusion of a civil war between the monarchy and Parliament.

The hostage is usually the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household – that is, an MP whose office makes him or her officially a member of the Royal Household and, simultaneously, a junior Whip for the Government.

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