Queen Elizabeth II, with Prince Charles, attends the official State Opening of Parliament in London. Photo / AP
Queen Elizabeth II, with Prince Charles, attends the official State Opening of Parliament in London. Photo / AP
Proceedings in the British Parliament are a nod to hundreds of years of history. But Brexit loomed over the ceremonies.
A "hostage," a search for explosives, heaps of royal jewels and a 5-foot silver gilt mace. Welcome to the reopening of Britain's Parliament, replete with ancient traditions and elaborate rituals,and infused with tension over the country's looming exit from the European Union.
The restart of government business Monday started with a speech by Queen Elizabeth II, a significant ceremonial duty that set out the government's agenda. It paved the way for Prime Minister Boris Johnson's attempts to navigate the Brexit deadline, October 31, to be back at centre stage as lawmakers return to Westminster to pick apart his manifesto.
Hours of royal pomp and stagecraft played out in the halls of Parliament as the queen and her entourage made an elaborate guest appearance at Britain's government buildings.
The opening was rife with ceremony and symbolism, all of it steeped in history — with some elements dating back to the Middle Ages. Here is a guide.
A gaslit hunt for explosives
Some elements of Parliament's reopening happen behind the scenes, including a ceremonial search of the cellars of government buildings for explosives.
Before the queen's arrival, her guards, decked out in royal red, trekked down to the cellars, gas lamps in hand. Based on historical precedent, the tradition is a nod to the failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot by Guy Fawkes and his Catholic collaborators to blow up Parliament and, with it, King James I, a Protestant.
Members of the House of Lords watch as Yeoman warders take part in the traditional Ceremonial Search ceremony ahead of the official State Opening of Parliament. Photo / AP
Then there is the hostage taking.
A member of Parliament was ceremonially held hostage in Buckingham Palace while the queen visits Westminster, just in case the lawmakers decided not to return her.
This is rooted in the 1600s, when the relationship between Parliament and the monarchy was particularly fraught under Charles I. (He was eventually beheaded at the end of a civil war.)
A royal entrance
The queen paraded from her home in Buckingham Palace through the streets of London to the government buildings at Westminster in a horse-drawn carriage escorted by the Household Cavalry, who serve as her mounted bodyguards.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II travels in a carriage to parliament for the official State Opening of Parliament. Photo / AP
The Imperial State Crown, the Cap of Maintenance and the Great Sword of State arrived in their own carriage.
The monarch pulled up to a special passageway — a looming archway known as the Sovereign's Entrance — that's reserved just for her.
The Queen's royal threads
Then it was time for a costume change. The monarch headed into the elaborate Robing Room and emerged wearing the Imperial State Crown and Robe of State, an 18-foot red velvet cape.
The crown has 2,868 diamonds and hundreds of other jewels, including 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls. Think bling.
The crown of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is carried to the official State Opening of Parliament. Photo / AP
It must be heavy, particularly for the 93-year-old monarch. But Elizabeth is an expert in opening Parliament, having conducted the ceremony dozens of times throughout her reign. The exceptions were in 1959, when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew, and in 1963, when she was pregnant with Prince Edward.
Once fully kitted out, she led a procession on the arms of her son Prince Charles through the Royal Gallery, packed with 600 guests, to the chamber of the House of Lords. The Great Sword of State and the Cap of Maintenance, symbols of sovereign power and authority, were carried in front of the queen by two peers. The queen then sat on the throne in the Lords' Chamber and waited for her remaining audience to arrive.
Slamming the door in Black Rod's face
Sarah Clarke, the jauntily dressed House of Lords official known as the Usher of the Black Rod, named for the black stick that she wields, was then sent from the Lords' Chamber to summon the lawmakers in the House of Commons.
On approach, the speaker of the House of Commons then — ceremoniously, of course — slammed the door in her face.
Black Rod, Sarah Clarke the first woman to serve in the role of Black Rod, walks through the Palace of Westminster and the Houses of Parliament for the State Opening of Parliament. Photo / AP
This tradition, which dates from the English Civil War of the 1600s, symbolises the lawmaking body's independence from the monarchy. After three strikes on the door, Black Rod — who was appointed Lady Usher in November 2017 and took up her duties early the following year — was let in, along with a procession of lawmakers, to listen to the queen's speech.
Accompanying her was the sergeant-at-arms, whose role dates from the 1400s, carrying the mace: a 5-foot, silver-gilt ornamental staff that represents the royal authority of the crown and dates from at least 1559.
The Queen's speech
Then it was time for the main event.
From atop a throne in the House of Lords, the queen set out the agenda and legislative policies of Johnson's Conservative Party, typically a formality. She spoke around 11:30 am local time.
The Sovereign's Throne — elaborately carved wood, gilded, set with crystals and upholstered in royal red velvet — was constructed and designed in 1847. It is based on a throne from 1308 that sits nearby in Westminster Abbey.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II delivers the Queen's Speech. Photo / AP
The speech, and the aftermath, promised to be anything but routine.
Johnson lost his majority in Parliament in September after expelling 21 Conservative lawmakers. Legislators had seized control of Parliament, fearful that he was on a path to crash Britain out of the European Union without a deal. The nation's highest court rebuked him for suspending Parliament unlawfully in his drive to pull the country out of the bloc. Another election is likely sooner rather than later.
So members of Parliament are now likely to pounce on the government's road map and deny him an affirmative vote.
