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Prince Charles delivers Queen’s speech
STORY: When the Queen was forced to withdraw for the first time in nearly 60 years, Charles stepped in to read the government’s legislative agenda at the Palace of Westminster, the first time he had taken on such a major constitutional task. The Queen, the world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch, has been absent from nearly all high-profile public events in recent months. She had to miss the speech due to recurring mobility issues. Charles, who had attended the opening of parliament with his mother in recent years, wore an admiral’s uniform to read the agenda from a throne. As the Queen was to announce, “My reign will,” Prince Charles said, “Her Majesty’s reign will…”. , accompanied by mounted soldiers in ceremonial uniform, while the Imperial State Crown and other regalia travel ahead in a carriage of their own. Taking place in the spring or after a national election, the ceremony embodies the age-old separation of power between the crown, the elected House of Commons, the upper house and the judiciary.
