State Opening of Parliament - Meeting Her Majesty!

A truly dramatic day at Westminster; the State opening of Parliament is indeed a grand affair which allows for a momentary pause in the political battles – and with anticipation of the Speaker’s eagerly awaited statement on the remarkable arrest of an MP, the pause was indeed ‘momentary’.

With Her Majesty seated on her throne and Black Rod having suffered the statutory slamming of the House of Commons door in his face, MPs were summoned to the posh end of the Palace to hear Her Majesty speak. Witnessing the Queen’s speech in a packed Upper House of Lords and Ladies decked from head to toe in ermine and robe, is indeed quite a spectacle but with every seat already taken all 646 MPs have to jostle for the limited space available at the back of the Lord’s chamber. Like the tube in rush hour, I found myself at the back and crushed together with Liam Byrne (Minister for the Cabinet Office) on one side and James Purnell, (Work and Pensions Secretary) on the other, straining to get a glimpse of this most British stately ceremony.

The two cabinet members muttered their approval at various points in a speech which contained little, if anything, not already trailed in the media. With nothing new to announce, Her Majesty could easily be forgiven for asking why she should bother to make the trip in the first place.

With the speech over and a proper view of the Queen denied I walked out to Parliament Square to watch the returning procession of a thousand or so soldiers on foot and horse march smartly back to barracks. As an ex-soldier I smiled at the thought of how many tins of brasso had been consumed in polishing all those buttons, badges and buckles and then, it happened; the Queen’s golden plated carriage, pulled by two enormous horses, glided by. For one split second Her Majesty looked right at me with a smile. I’ve toasted her health more times than you can imagine and today I not only saw her – she saw me and gave me my very own Royal wave!