The event, which sees the monarch presenting her government’s programme for the forthcoming session, is loaded with quaint customs dating back to at least the 16th century.
On Tuesday crowds lined the central London streets, under the flags of Britain and the Commonwealth, to see Queen Elizabeth II, 81, make the short procession from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster in the Irish State Coach, drawn by four white horses and escorted by ranks of cavalry.
In line with tradition, while she headed to parliament a government official was held “hostage” at Buckingham Palace in order to ensure the sovereign’s safe return.
She wears the Imperial State Crown, normally on display at the Tower of London. Weighing two pounds (910 grams), it is notoriously difficult to wear and contains 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and five rubies.
The speech — formally known as Her Majesty’s Most Gracious Speech — is delivered from the throne in the upper House of Lords.
In the days before the ceremony, the Yeomen of the Guard, brandishing lanterns, search the Westminster cellars in a tradition dating back to the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, remembered each year on Nov 5 with bonfires across Britain.
The police then carry out a more precise security sweep.
The lords, wearing their ermine-trimmed red robes, fill the upper chamber, while ambassadors, some in colourful national dress, watch on.
Meanwhile, Black Rod, the queen’s messenger, summons the members of parliament from the lower house of Commons — but the door is slammed in his face to show their ultimate supremacy over the lords.
He then strikes the door thrice with the black rod — which has left an unsightly scuff mark over the decades — and the MPs then walk the quarter-mile (half-kilometre) straight line through the palace to the upper chamber, led by the speaker, then the prime minister and the main opposition leader walking side by side.
Hostilities between the two are resumed later when the speech is debated.
The lord chancellor hands the government-written speech to the monarch in a silk bag. There was uproar when the custom was changed recently so he no longer had to waddle backwards down the steps to avoid turning his back on the sovereign.
The queen’s speech is read in a monotone delivery to reflect her neutrality and is heard in silence.
It ends with the traditional line: “My Lords and members of the House of Commons: I pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon your counsels.” Meanwhile, come rain or shine, thousands of royal-watchers and bemused tourists remain outside to catch a glimpse of the queen as she returns to Buckingham Palace amid the clatter of hooves and swords.
—AFP