Queen withdraws from inaugural speech to UK Parliament

Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the Queen will not attend this year’s State Opening of Parliament or the reading of the Queen’s address.

The Queen will skip this constitutional event, which lays out the government’s legislative agenda, for the first time since 1963.

On Tuesday, Prince Charles will deliver the Queen’s address.

The 96-year-old king suffers from mobility issues and has had to postpone many recent public engagements.

Until Monday evening, Buckingham Palace said the Queen intended to attend the event in Westminster, but she has since stated she would not go due to “episodic mobility issues.”

According to a statement, the Queen had regrettably chosen not to attend the State Opening after consulting with her doctors.

The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Charles have been given the authority to open Parliament on her behalf.

The Imperial State Crown will still be presented to Parliament, and the Queen’s throne will remain vacant, with Prince Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Prince William anticipated to sit in front of the gathering lawmakers.

The Queen’s absence comes after she missed many Easter engagements, including the Maundy Service, and announced that she would not hold royal garden parties this year.

She has only attended one public event outside the royal homes this year, a thanksgiving ceremony for Prince Philip in March.

However, it is known that the Queen intends to keep other commitments this week, including regular virtual or phone meetings with the Prime Minister and Privy Council, as well as certain private engagements.

The State Opening of Parliament marks the beginning of the legislative year, with the Queen’s address outlining the government’s program and the bills that it intends to enact.

The queen, as head of state, normally reads the speech, with the Queen only missing it twice throughout her 70-year reign, in 1959 and 1963, due to pregnancies.

On those occasions, the speech was delivered by the Lord Chancellor, but the Prince of Wales will stand in for the Queen this year.

There have been adaptations of the State Opening in recent years – with the Queen not wearing the heavy Imperial State Crown or ceremonial robes and there was a more scaled-back ceremony last year because of COVID restrictions.

But this will mark the first time in 59 years that the Queen will not have attended.

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