2016 - Live: BBC Parliament

:00:23. > :00:24.Good morning and welcome to BBC Parliament's live coverage

:00:25. > :00:33.In her 91st year, the Queen will open the second session

:00:34. > :00:40.and this is the 56th Parliament of the United Kingdom.

:00:41. > :00:44.And this morning, we welcome viewers to C-Span in the United States.

:00:45. > :00:49.I reckon it's about 5.30 in the morning in the eastern states,

:00:50. > :00:53.It is, of course, a Conservative government beginning its second

:00:54. > :01:01.though with a very small majority in the Commons,

:01:02. > :01:03.a government not without its problems as it faces the forthcoming

:01:04. > :01:11.We are focusing on a British tradition.

:01:12. > :01:13.The next hour and a half, we'll spend enjoying

:01:14. > :01:17.at the Government's new plans to be unveiled in the Queen's Speech.

:01:18. > :01:19.With me to help that journey along, I'm joined

:01:20. > :01:21.by the Conservative peer - and more importantly

:01:22. > :01:28.for this morning - thriller writer, Michael Dobbs.

:01:29. > :01:35.the historian, Professor Kate Williams of Reading University,

:01:36. > :01:38.to welcome the former Serjeant at Arms of the House of Commons,

:01:39. > :01:41.Lawrence Ward, who retired last Autumn from his august post.

:01:42. > :01:48.You retired from your post last autumn? I wish it was retirement but

:01:49. > :01:51.I went to another job. You left it. Among those attending today, the

:01:52. > :01:57.Prime Minister. He left Downing Street the short time ago. Here he

:01:58. > :02:04.comes. The doors of Number Ten open. And the Prime Minister has actually

:02:05. > :02:07.been the leader of the Conservative Party for 11 years now.

:02:08. > :02:09.And we've also seen the arrival at Westminster of the Leader

:02:10. > :02:20.He arrived at portcullis house on the embankment, times have changed

:02:21. > :02:28.for Jeremy Corbyn. In 1998 he said the State Opening with all of its

:02:29. > :02:30.pageantry underlines the hereditary monarchy and the hereditary House of

:02:31. > :02:37.Lords but in the debate last month on the 90th birthday of the Queen he

:02:38. > :02:40.made a very charming speech. Saying, about himself, as a relatively young

:02:41. > :02:47.whippersnapper I'm fully in favour of a country having leaders of a

:02:48. > :02:53.fine vintage. He said, talking today about a highly respected individual

:02:54. > :02:57.who is 90. Comparing his own age, he said it proves you are never too

:02:58. > :03:02.late to take up a new career and learn something else. It's going to

:03:03. > :03:04.be quite an amazing day for Jeremy Corbyn to find himself at the State

:03:05. > :03:15.Opening. Kate, if I could turn to you, the

:03:16. > :03:20.91st year of the Queen, if monarchy was a symbol of continuity, the

:03:21. > :03:25.Queen is that symbol? 90 years as you say, that is true. She has

:03:26. > :03:30.engaged in this ceremony since 1952 apart from when she was pregnant and

:03:31. > :03:35.in 2011 when the Government cancelled it. She has been here at

:03:36. > :03:39.the State Opening every year that she possibly could, and provided

:03:40. > :03:45.continuity right back to when the ceremony in this form was brought in

:03:46. > :03:49.in 1852, and pretty much everyone has been here since except Victoria

:03:50. > :03:53.who took time off after the death of Albert. Looking inside the Chamber

:03:54. > :04:00.of the House of Lords now. They are dressed in their ermine. They don't

:04:01. > :04:07.wear ermine read a apparently! One of the myths is that we are always

:04:08. > :04:11.wearing a silken ermine is the of course this is the only day that we

:04:12. > :04:17.wear the traditional uniform. Unless we are introducing a new peer in

:04:18. > :04:24.which case we put on the robes but normally we are ordinary folks. That

:04:25. > :04:27.is reassuring. There are 807 of you nowadays. Quite a lot of ordinary

:04:28. > :04:33.folks in the House of Lords. It's too big? It is too big. We are

:04:34. > :04:37.briefly looking at the Queens thrown on the left and the Duke of

:04:38. > :04:43.Edinburgh's on the right. It is an inch shorter than the Queen's. And

:04:44. > :04:48.the chairs designed for Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.

:04:49. > :04:53.That is the Earl Marshal. The master of ceremonies today. He is talking

:04:54. > :04:59.to, on the right, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. And on the

:05:00. > :05:10.left with the beard the Bishop of London. That is Lord Willits, a

:05:11. > :05:17.conservative thinker, you might say. You can give me a few more names as

:05:18. > :05:22.we go along. They're an new and old. You can see that we have got plenty

:05:23. > :05:29.of young and vibrant life. We have plenty more women than the House of

:05:30. > :05:35.Commons. Not surprising, there is 800 of you! Per capita, as a

:05:36. > :05:39.proportion of the population. Going back to your earlier point, if it

:05:40. > :05:44.were left to the House of Lords collectively now we would count our

:05:45. > :05:48.numbers back quite sharply. Because there are too many and it makes it

:05:49. > :05:53.very difficult to work properly, the facilities are not there to enable

:05:54. > :05:58.us to work properly. And yet the numbers are piling up, 61 new peers

:05:59. > :06:07.last year. People asked darting to retire. 25 peers retired. -- people

:06:08. > :06:10.are starting to retire. When does it stop? It doesn't stop as long as the

:06:11. > :06:14.Prime Minister insists on putting fresh people in. If we are to reduce

:06:15. > :06:20.numbers it needs an element of self control on the part of party leaders

:06:21. > :06:25.to stop backing the place with their friends. This is historically huge

:06:26. > :06:32.for the House of Lords in terms of numbers? Used to be much smaller?

:06:33. > :06:35.Yes, we have seen the cutback on hereditary peers to be replaced by

:06:36. > :06:39.peers being made by political appointment. What we might see

:06:40. > :06:45.today, I'm expecting to see some sort of restriction, a veto.

:06:46. > :06:55.Following on from the statutory instrument. Lawrence, it is 10:30am

:06:56. > :07:00.in the morning, if you were Serjeant of arms, what would you be doing? I

:07:01. > :07:02.would probably be with the Speaker and other officials from the House

:07:03. > :07:08.of Commons going through the business of the day. It is the State

:07:09. > :07:14.Opening! We would be in our finery. When are you getting dressed?

:07:15. > :07:17.7:30am. It's a long day. It's a different uniform forced eight

:07:18. > :07:24.opening day? It is the same uniform with additional element. -- State

:07:25. > :07:30.Opening day. The collar that he wears is sewn onto the shoulders at

:07:31. > :07:35.7:30am. So that it does not slip off. It is a very long day, by this

:07:36. > :07:41.time you already feel as though you've done a work. As Lawrence was

:07:42. > :07:45.saying it has a party atmosphere, people are going there and

:07:46. > :07:49.celebrating our traditions and all of these peers dressing up, it's the

:07:50. > :07:54.only day we get dressed up and it is a bit like a fancy dress party, if I

:07:55. > :07:58.can put it like that. As well as being a serious occasion. Thank you

:07:59. > :08:02.very much. We will come back to you soon.

:08:03. > :08:05.So we've seen the Lords and Ladies in their ermine and tiaras.

:08:06. > :08:09.we'll see the Household Cavalry and Yeomen of the Guard assembled,

:08:10. > :08:10.ready to welcome the royal party to Westminster,

:08:11. > :08:14.But what kind of modern message might all this

:08:15. > :08:34.vicar of St-Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London's Trafalgar Square.

:08:35. > :08:36.The State Opening of Parliament demonstrates

:08:37. > :08:44.The people vote, the parliament is elected.

:08:45. > :08:49.Parliament proposes to make laws that the governing party doesn't

:08:50. > :08:53.impose its will on the population, it does it in discussion and it asks

:08:54. > :08:58.the Queen as the representative of the whole nation to deliver

:08:59. > :09:00.to parliament a description of what it proposes to do,

:09:01. > :09:05.Some people might think that's rather, well, I won't say naive,

:09:06. > :09:07.but a rose-tinted view of our democracy as it

:09:08. > :09:14.It is an aspirational view of our democracy, but actually,

:09:15. > :09:19.When one party wins an election, it doesn't ride roughshod

:09:20. > :09:28.The Queen presided over her first State Opening of Parliament in 1952

:09:29. > :09:33.and she has attended all but two ceremonies since.

:09:34. > :09:37.And that includes a scaled-down event in March 1974,

:09:38. > :09:45.after the election of a minority Labour Government.

:09:46. > :09:48.No carriages then, but what mattered was the meeting of the monarch,

:09:49. > :09:53.Today, for the first time, this ceremony is being watched

:09:54. > :09:56.not only by those who are present in this Chamber,

:09:57. > :09:58.but by many millions of my subjects.

:09:59. > :10:01.Peoples in other lands will also be able to witness this renewal

:10:02. > :10:15.I do think that the British constitution, informally,

:10:16. > :10:21.because there isn't a written one, has got something pretty special,

:10:22. > :10:23.one is straightforward democracy, you know, a democracy

:10:24. > :10:26.in which the majority rule, under certain constraints,

:10:27. > :10:29.and there is protection for minorities, but also we preserve

:10:30. > :10:34.that notion that there is a person, that our loyalty is not to an idea,

:10:35. > :10:37.it's to a person, because we have seen in so many contexts

:10:38. > :10:42.where loyalty to an idea can go badly wrong.

:10:43. > :10:45.And I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the promises

:10:46. > :10:47.she made at her coronation echo through her life.

:10:48. > :10:49.These responsibilities mean everything to her,

:10:50. > :10:57.She's almost laid down her life for the country in order to play

:10:58. > :11:11.a role that we desperately need and seldom thank her for.

:11:12. > :11:18.Kate Williams, one of the things that Sam Wells told me was, I was

:11:19. > :11:23.talking to him before the interview, the Queen exercises her a thorough

:11:24. > :11:28.tea not by opposing her well, by representing and articulating the

:11:29. > :11:32.voice of the people. -- imposing her will. It sounds like a combo looted

:11:33. > :11:39.description, do you believe that? ... She enables a democracy to

:11:40. > :11:43.happen by being this figure at the top? And it has been vital to the

:11:44. > :11:46.Queen that she is politically neutral, key part of her

:11:47. > :11:53.constitutional lessons even to her as a young girl that she had to

:11:54. > :11:56.remain outside of politics. Lots of monarchs have been meddling

:11:57. > :11:58.excessively, but she has stayed out of politics and enabled the

:11:59. > :12:02.Government to do what it wish without meddling. We have had

:12:03. > :12:11.interesting words about the Chinese recently. Coming down the mall is

:12:12. > :12:19.the regalia possession of the Crown and the cab of maintenance and Sword

:12:20. > :12:25.of State. -- Cap of Maintenance. Behind that is the state car. With

:12:26. > :12:31.the two maces brought by the Serjeant at Arms in Buckingham

:12:32. > :12:38.Palace. We actually end up seeing, Lawrence, five maces this morning

:12:39. > :12:42.but you are the Serjeant of arms, weren't you? I am indeed and I would

:12:43. > :12:47.like to think the most important but of course that is not true. You are

:12:48. > :12:52.known full-time as the Serjeant at Arms? That's right. One of the

:12:53. > :12:55.things that struck me on State Opening day was my eyesight at

:12:56. > :13:00.distance is not very good and I should really wear glasses but I was

:13:01. > :13:04.too vain to do that. I remember the Crown, the glistening diamonds in

:13:05. > :13:07.the crown from all that way back in the House of Commons. When it

:13:08. > :13:15.catches the light it really does shine. It has already... It has

:13:16. > :13:20.already been delivered by armed guard from the Tower of London. It's

:13:21. > :13:26.in the carriage now and all being well, that is the Queen Alexandra

:13:27. > :13:36.State coach on its way with the horses, Firework, Perth, Ensign and

:13:37. > :13:40.Louis. What is the day job of the Serjeant at Arms? The day job is to

:13:41. > :13:44.be responsible for security and access to the House of Commons and

:13:45. > :13:47.it is working directly with the Speaker of the House of Commons to

:13:48. > :13:52.ensure that the public can get in and there is over 1 million visitors

:13:53. > :13:56.a year. And that Members can get around and the function can

:13:57. > :14:00.continue. It's very difficult as a balancing act, allowing access to

:14:01. > :14:06.the public but also keeping Members save so that business of the House

:14:07. > :14:10.can continue. This is probably not something I should mention today but

:14:11. > :14:19.it is that one of your thrillers is about the State Opening. Oh, yes.

:14:20. > :14:23.And it doesn't go according to plan? It doesn't, state openings normally

:14:24. > :14:29.go exceedingly well. Two or three years ago one page boy fainted. That

:14:30. > :14:33.hadn't really happened before and you could see the tremor of fear

:14:34. > :14:37.that was going through everybody, what do we do with him? Do we ignore

:14:38. > :14:41.the poor thing? The Duchess of Cambridge came to the rescue and

:14:42. > :14:45.indicated somebody should do something about the poor boy. He

:14:46. > :14:52.will be living out on that for a while. And your blog, the Lord's

:14:53. > :14:54.day? Yes, Lawrence was responsible for security. --

:14:55. > :15:01.Look. Security is an exceedingly difficult problem for the Palace of

:15:02. > :15:06.Westminster. Ten or 15 years ago when I wrote the book the security

:15:07. > :15:13.was in my view something of a joke and needed real review and it has

:15:14. > :15:17.been reviewed. I set my book with the old security system where the

:15:18. > :15:23.State Opening was held hostage. Everybody in that room, you will

:15:24. > :15:26.see, we have the monarchy, the Government, the opposition, the

:15:27. > :15:31.Lords, the ambassadors and judges, everybody who matters is there. The

:15:32. > :15:37.whole British establishment in one room. In those days we really needed

:15:38. > :15:42.to take rather more care of security on that day than sending around a

:15:43. > :15:53.few Yeomen of the Guard with their pikes to check for gunpowder.

:15:54. > :16:03.The action of your book takes place in the House of Lords. You said they

:16:04. > :16:09.can't find offices for you all? Yes, but the chamber is our main office.

:16:10. > :16:27.Now, there is the diplomatic corps. They are sitting behind the bishops.

:16:28. > :16:42.Go on, Michael. You are interested in the exercise of power. Others are

:16:43. > :16:55.not interested in the content of the Queen's Speech. Not at all,. We are

:16:56. > :17:10.talking about a drama series here, not a documentary. I had to write to

:17:11. > :17:17.assure people that the house of cards is a work of entertainment.

:17:18. > :17:21.Did you feel it was more or less accurate than you expected? I get

:17:22. > :17:24.the idea occasionally that there are plenty of people in Parliament and a

:17:25. > :17:30.swear who are auditioning furiously for parts in the next series. But

:17:31. > :17:35.drama does remind you that we are looking here at the functions of

:17:36. > :17:39.power, but at the end of the day, it comes down to people and

:17:40. > :17:42.personalities. And we will be looking at a Queen's Speech today

:17:43. > :17:47.which will set out the government's programme, but we know that

:17:48. > :17:51.programme will be interfered with and affected, perhaps even

:17:52. > :17:54.undermined by the way that after the Queen's Speech, different

:17:55. > :17:59.personalities will lock horns, disagree and try to move the agenda

:18:00. > :18:03.in a different direction. Kate Williams, you mentioned briefly

:18:04. > :18:09.earlier that after all, this Queen has attended all but two openings of

:18:10. > :18:17.Parliament, and only one non-State Opening of Parliament of the 63 she

:18:18. > :18:23.has been to. But Queen Victoria had a long reign as well and she got out

:18:24. > :18:29.of State Opening. She did. 1852 was the first one, because we had the

:18:30. > :18:35.first ceremony of the Houses of Parliament in. Then Albert died ten

:18:36. > :18:41.years later, so she declined to attend between 1862 and 1865, and

:18:42. > :18:49.between them and her death she came seven times. Seven times in 35

:18:50. > :18:56.years. That was fast maths! Yes, so she was a very infrequent attender,

:18:57. > :19:00.unlike our own monarch. So someone else had to open it. The Lord

:19:01. > :19:07.Chancellor read the speech. Did that damage the image of the monarchy? It

:19:08. > :19:11.certainly did from 1862 until 1865, the idea that she was staying away

:19:12. > :19:15.because Albert had died and she was locking herself up in mourning. It

:19:16. > :19:19.was a balance for her between playing the role of a morning wife

:19:20. > :19:23.and also playing a constitutional role which demands that a monarch is

:19:24. > :19:33.there at the State Opening and other events. It did create a search for

:19:34. > :19:36.republicanism when Victoria was not seen not just at State Opening, but

:19:37. > :19:38.in general. And when she did come, they expected that she would come

:19:39. > :19:44.again. At the of her life, it was ill health. She was not in fantastic

:19:45. > :19:51.health like our own monarch. It was not her greatest decision not to

:19:52. > :19:57.attend. Another look at the regalia procession in The Queen Alexandra

:19:58. > :20:03.State coach. There is a regalia escort of the Household Cavalry,

:20:04. > :20:13.which is commanded by Tom Horton, who rides a 17 hand gelding which is

:20:14. > :20:19.a veteran of these parades. This regalia procession, I think, is

:20:20. > :20:23.pretty close now to the Palace of Westminster. It is just coming along

:20:24. > :20:29.the side of Parliament Square. You can see the union Jacks on the

:20:30. > :20:33.right. There is now a new crossing, so it makes it quite easy to cross

:20:34. > :20:37.from the pavement onto Parliament Square itself, which previously was

:20:38. > :20:45.rather difficult. The pavement has also been considerably widened in

:20:46. > :20:51.front of new palace yard on the left. That is your end of the

:20:52. > :20:55.building, Lawrence. It is indeed, and you will see some of the

:20:56. > :20:59.ordinary bollards which are normally on the end of the road have been

:21:00. > :21:03.removed to allow the carriages to go through. The preparations for this

:21:04. > :21:07.started weeks ago. There would have been rehearsals at four in the

:21:08. > :21:12.morning over the weekend, so that everybody knows exactly what they

:21:13. > :21:15.are doing. It looks like a well oiled machine, but little things

:21:16. > :21:19.happen around the edges which are not planned for. But it usually

:21:20. > :21:26.works to the minute. Westminster Abbey on the right. And lined up,

:21:27. > :21:32.the guard of honour, the 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards and

:21:33. > :21:40.the Irish Guards Band to the right of the picture. They will present

:21:41. > :21:47.arms as the crown goes by. Any second now, they will turn left

:21:48. > :21:52.towards Victoria Tower and through the Sovereign's Entrance, our first

:21:53. > :21:57.view of the Imperial State Crown Mati Sword of State and the Cap of

:21:58. > :22:02.Maintenance. And when it arrives at the sovereign staircase, there is a

:22:03. > :22:08.kind of juggling act to get the crown out of the carriage in an

:22:09. > :22:13.attempt that no one drops it at the right person ends up with the crown

:22:14. > :22:18.at the end of the procedure is spotted with it. The first person

:22:19. > :22:22.who hands the crown out is the first person who ends up with the Crown at

:22:23. > :22:30.the end of the process. Talking of crowns, Queen Victoria did not wear

:22:31. > :22:35.it much, did she? No. This one dates from 1937 so Queen Victoria had a

:22:36. > :22:42.different one. They were quite in chief. That is the right word. It

:22:43. > :22:48.was a dinky Crown. This one is a full kilogram of stuff. But Victoria

:22:49. > :22:52.found it uncomfortable and did not wear it. She also didn't like the

:22:53. > :22:56.wearing of the ropes and the whole pomp. She refused to do it during

:22:57. > :22:59.her jubilee is, much against the pleas of her ministers, who begged

:23:00. > :23:06.her to put on the Crown and the ropes. But she was rather more

:23:07. > :23:14.low-key in her desire for less pomp. But this monarch does. The barge

:23:15. > :23:21.master is waiting to receive the Crown. The crown jewel, Martin

:23:22. > :23:26.Swift, has taken the crown from the controller of the Lord Chamberlain

:23:27. > :23:31.'s office, who is now getting out of the carriage, Lieutenant Colonel Sir

:23:32. > :23:39.Andrew Ford. The barge master appears to be wearing his barge

:23:40. > :23:44.master's Mac! And the Crown at this stage is on a rather small cushion.

:23:45. > :23:52.And then finally, from Sir Andrew Ford to the crown jewel to the barge

:23:53. > :23:56.master, and back to Sir Andrew Ford. They have done this highly delicate

:23:57. > :24:00.pass the parcel. I was lucky enough to go to the Tower of London earlier

:24:01. > :24:05.this year. And although it looks splendid on the television picture,

:24:06. > :24:13.nothing beats seeing it in real life in the Tower of London, because it

:24:14. > :24:16.is so astonishingly sparkly. And it looks its most sparkly for this

:24:17. > :24:26.moment, because it has been sparkled up. The crown itself is guided by

:24:27. > :24:32.two of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms Gentlemen at Arms.

:24:33. > :24:42.And bringing up the rear, the two Serjeant at Arms from Buckingham

:24:43. > :24:46.Palace. Sorry, Kate? The Crown has a stone from Edward the confessor's

:24:47. > :24:50.ring, and it reminds us that this is the crown The Queen wears after she

:24:51. > :24:56.is crowned. She only wears it at the State Opening and after she is

:24:57. > :25:01.crowned. When she comes out of the coronation ceremony, this is what

:25:02. > :25:05.she wears, so it embodies the constitutional monarchy. There are

:25:06. > :25:11.monarchy is left in the world, but they are slightly reluctant crown

:25:12. > :25:14.wearers, aren't they? We are the most enthusiastic Crown wearers of

:25:15. > :25:18.all. The other monarchies are much more low-key in much of continental

:25:19. > :25:25.Europe, in Holland and Norway and Sweden. We wear our crowns,

:25:26. > :25:29.particularly because we have so many great stones that date back to the

:25:30. > :25:37.13th century. They are great historic symbols. Let me ask a

:25:38. > :25:42.question if I may. I have never understood, what is the Cap of

:25:43. > :25:53.Maintenance? No one can tell me what it is for, where it comes from. We

:25:54. > :26:00.will come back to that. We will watch Sir Andrew Ford, the

:26:01. > :26:04.Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office, carrying the

:26:05. > :26:13.Crown on its condition up to the Royal Gallery and the Norman

:26:14. > :26:18.staircase, lined by the brilliantly named staircase party of the

:26:19. > :26:23.Household Cavalry, so-called because they are on the staircase. He will

:26:24. > :26:29.deliver the Imperial State Crown to the Lord Great Chamberlain, the

:26:30. > :26:36.Marquess of Cholmondeley. At that point, the guard of honour changes

:26:37. > :26:50.to two Yeomen of the Guard, not beefeaters of the tower.

:26:51. > :26:55.And the Lord Great Chamberlain has successfully taken delivery of the

:26:56. > :27:05.Crown. You will see that in the Royal Gallery, everyone has stood

:27:06. > :27:11.for the arrival of the Crown. And behind the Crown will be the Cap of

:27:12. > :27:16.Maintenance and the Sword of State. They go into their positions,

:27:17. > :27:25.waiting to be carried into the procession, carried by Lieutenant

:27:26. > :27:30.Colonel Michael Vernon. The Sword of State was carried by Sir Kevin

:27:31. > :27:37.Donoghue. Kate, time for a Cap of Maintenance explanation. As you say,

:27:38. > :27:41.it is a key part of the regalia we see only in the State Opening of

:27:42. > :27:47.Parliament. It does not get out many other times. No. It is essentially a

:27:48. > :27:51.traditional part of it. Once we start questioning the regalia of

:27:52. > :27:58.monarchy, they all might seem a bit questionable. There is a suggestion

:27:59. > :28:01.that if the Crown was ever not available, we would use the Cap of

:28:02. > :28:07.Maintenance. I thought it was a present from the Pope, and the one

:28:08. > :28:12.we display is in memory of a Cap of Maintenance displayed by Henry VIII

:28:13. > :28:18.because he received it from the Pope for good work. It rather fell out

:28:19. > :28:23.between them later. The Pope does where a Cap of Maintenance of some

:28:24. > :28:28.kind at the papal coronation, before they get the three tiered Crown. You

:28:29. > :28:34.never know when you will need one. It is good to have one on hand.

:28:35. > :28:40.Lawrence, at your end of the building, the rabble end, a lot of

:28:41. > :28:46.people will think what Michael and Kate have been saying is a load of

:28:47. > :28:50.mumbo jumbo. Maybe you do? I think everyone gets caught up in the

:28:51. > :28:54.occasion. It is the day when the spotlight is on Parliament. It is a

:28:55. > :28:57.day when everyone wears that finally, and as Michael was saying,

:28:58. > :29:02.there was a bit of a party feel about the place. Actually, the

:29:03. > :29:09.Commons does like a ceremony. It does. There is nothing members like

:29:10. > :29:17.more than walking up to the House of Lords and being a bit noisy and a

:29:18. > :29:21.bit disruptive, because the Lords are very well behaved and it is very

:29:22. > :29:26.quiet when they arrive. They like to flex their muscles a bit and say, we

:29:27. > :29:34.have arrived, here we are, and they like to be noticed. There is quite a

:29:35. > :29:38.rush to get in. You lead the procession, together with the

:29:39. > :29:42.Speaker, and a lot of people are hovering around, trying to get good

:29:43. > :29:49.places in the House of Lords to hear the speech. It is one of the most

:29:50. > :30:01.contentious elements. Lots of members attend for prayers. But some

:30:02. > :30:06.members decided not to attend prayers because they want a good

:30:07. > :30:08.spot. And then they try to leap into the convoy as it is on its way to

:30:09. > :30:18.the House of Lords. You should be more bossy. There were

:30:19. > :30:22.several conversations over the years about how to corral people going up

:30:23. > :30:29.and one of the ideas was to have a rope so that Members could jump in.

:30:30. > :30:32.They need roping off! Buckingham Palace and Her Majesty The Queen,

:30:33. > :30:39.accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh in the uniform of the Lord high

:30:40. > :30:49.Admiral of Great Britain. There is only one Lord Admiral and you're

:30:50. > :30:55.looking at him. The Queen there, I think he is the only man to wear

:30:56. > :30:59.this little coronet. They set off from Buckingham Palace in the

:31:00. > :31:06.Diamond Jubilee carriage, in fact. Stunning piece of work. It took

:31:07. > :31:09.eight years to build and I suppose we are in the world short of

:31:10. > :31:16.carriage builders these days but it was built by a real enthusiasts. An

:31:17. > :31:23.Australian originally but he worked a long time in Britain. This really

:31:24. > :31:29.was very much his life 's work and although it did take a very long

:31:30. > :31:34.time to build and was extremely expensive, by the end he had to

:31:35. > :31:43.mortgage his house to pay for it. There, the carriage is drawn by what

:31:44. > :31:47.everyone tells me called sixth-grades but I think they are

:31:48. > :31:56.white horses. They have lovely names, Milford Haven, Storm,

:31:57. > :32:01.Claudia, Meg, Tyrone. Isa speced the rain is really now quite heavy

:32:02. > :32:06.outside. Kate, you arrived late. -- I suspect. It is pretty much British

:32:07. > :32:12.weather outside, foggy and raining. I think we are going to have some

:32:13. > :32:17.heavy showers today. Edward VIII only had one State Opening. That is

:32:18. > :32:23.correct because we did not have him very long. It was the year of three

:32:24. > :32:29.Kings, George V died and Edward VIII became Monaco in 1936 and not much

:32:30. > :32:39.later he abdicated to marry Mrs Simpson. It was raining so much they

:32:40. > :32:46.had to use cars. The Marquess of Cholmondley will take that into the

:32:47. > :32:56.Robing Room. Lord Chamberlain's office can be dated to the 12th

:32:57. > :33:00.century. Strictly speaking Lord Cholmondley is acting in the reign

:33:01. > :33:04.of Elizabeth II because the family does it every other reign. They did

:33:05. > :33:12.rather badly in the Edward VIII reign. They thought, oh dear, that's

:33:13. > :33:17.it. It goes to another family after that. They have done better ever

:33:18. > :33:25.since, they have had a very long reign. Since 1952. The next family

:33:26. > :33:29.to inherit will be the Carrington family, Peter Carrington, Lord

:33:30. > :33:33.Carrington, the Conservative peer, aged 97 now. Whether he does the

:33:34. > :33:39.duty himself, I don't think so but maybe. Could be his son. He might

:33:40. > :33:46.have to wait a while because this Queen is outliving everyone! Of

:33:47. > :33:51.course it is, dare one say, nonsenses of the Constitution that

:33:52. > :33:58.this is hereditary, but it works and if it works why bother looking for

:33:59. > :34:03.other alternatives? Until 1965 the Lord Great Chamberlain was an actual

:34:04. > :34:07.executive in the Palace of Westminster and took day-to-day part

:34:08. > :34:10.in the management, and that is when the law was changed to give power to

:34:11. > :34:16.the Serjeant at Arms and Black Rod in the House of Commons. You are

:34:17. > :34:21.quite right. It did change. That's what makes the Serjeant at Arms role

:34:22. > :34:25.and the role of Black Rod quite powerful. It is a huge amount of

:34:26. > :34:30.responsibility because the buck stops with those roles. The Lord

:34:31. > :34:33.Great Chamberlain now looks after the royal parts of the Palace, tell

:34:34. > :34:41.us about the remaining royal bits of the Palace. There are many royal

:34:42. > :34:44.parts and indeed his key role is to care for these Royal parts of the

:34:45. > :34:51.Palace and it is a vital role which he does actually report to Her

:34:52. > :34:55.Majesty on. She is his direct manager in that sense. Most of what

:34:56. > :34:59.we see in the glittering bits of the day are the royal bits of the

:35:00. > :35:05.Palace. The Normans their case, Royal Gallery. The Robing Room

:35:06. > :35:09.itself. -- Norman Staircase. Job share with Westminster Hall? That's

:35:10. > :35:18.right. You have to be very diplomatic with each other. Many

:35:19. > :35:22.stakeholders. Stakeholders! Imagine the Lord Great Chamberlain of 1863

:35:23. > :35:26.saying that he must consult with the other stakeholders! The great thing

:35:27. > :35:29.about those parts of the Palace is that the Queen only comes in with

:35:30. > :35:35.invitation and much of the ceremony is to show that things have changed

:35:36. > :35:39.much since the civil war and the Queen is only now allowed in by

:35:40. > :35:42.invitation and only when Parliament wishes to allow her, so that

:35:43. > :35:47.underlines how it is a constitutional monarchy, as does the

:35:48. > :35:54.tradition of the hostage MP. That hostage is Chris Hopkins. He is

:35:55. > :35:59.watching telly at Buckingham Palace. This is the procession of the Prince

:36:00. > :36:05.of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall. They are in the Irish State coach.

:36:06. > :36:12.It is pouring with rain. He is wearing the uniform of an and roll

:36:13. > :36:16.book -- Admiral of the Fleet. They are in the Irish state coach which

:36:17. > :36:25.is being pulled by their horses. And their horses, Cinderella and

:36:26. > :36:38.Bermuda. Are they black or brown? They look very gorgeous. Only two

:36:39. > :36:42.horses, actually. They are bay forces which apparently is the right

:36:43. > :36:52.word for Brown. The outriders getting off the back of the coach,

:36:53. > :36:56.they are tricky things to brake, and that is why the sand is there. They

:36:57. > :36:57.have this sharp turn and then they have two brake right in the right

:36:58. > :37:13.place. Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of

:37:14. > :37:19.Cornwall emerges from the Irish State coach and the sash she is

:37:20. > :37:25.wearing is of a Dame Commander of the Victorian order. An order of

:37:26. > :37:33.chivalry that is in the personal gift of the Queen. She is met by the

:37:34. > :37:37.Earl Marshal carrying his baton. The Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester,

:37:38. > :37:44.Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and great Steward

:37:45. > :37:52.of Scotland. His sash is a green sash of the order of the Thistle.

:37:53. > :37:58.The Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk will conduct the royal party

:37:59. > :38:07.up the Norman Staircase, lines not only by the Household Cavalry but

:38:08. > :38:23.the heralds and pursuivants, with their white staves of office. The

:38:24. > :38:27.Earl Marshal is not wearing the duke's robes. He is fully intending

:38:28. > :38:30.to get back to the House of Lords and will be taking the oath of

:38:31. > :38:38.allegiance before long. In the next state of -- State Opening he will be

:38:39. > :38:43.maybe wearing his duke's robes, but that is still a magnificent uniform,

:38:44. > :38:47.lovely to see it. Together with the Lord Great Chamberlain he sits as of

:38:48. > :38:51.right in the House of Lords regardless of the reforms. I was

:38:52. > :38:53.just going to say that not traditional to traditional to CDF to

:38:54. > :39:00.the throne coming to the State Opening and he first came in 2013.

:39:01. > :39:04.-- to see the heir to the throne. Baroness D'Souza on her final State

:39:05. > :39:11.Opening, she announced she would only do one term. And in fact

:39:12. > :39:15.nominations will close tomorrow for those who want to be Lord Speaker,

:39:16. > :39:22.are you putting yourself forward, Lord Dodds? I haven't yet decided to

:39:23. > :39:28.throw my hat into the ring. You are not neutral enough! That's your

:39:29. > :39:33.trouble. The Lord high Chancellor of Great Britain, Michael Gove. We are

:39:34. > :39:39.likely to get quite a lot of bills concerning his department. He is the

:39:40. > :39:48.220th Lord Chancellor, in the procession this morning. Richard

:39:49. > :39:51.Heaton. The deputy Serjeant at Arms and Amy Regan, the Lord Chancellor's

:39:52. > :39:58.private secretary, and most importantly because she is carrying

:39:59. > :40:02.the speech, the Lord Chancellor's purse bearer. It is an enormous

:40:03. > :40:10.purse and it's fair to say that she is not enormous, really quite tiny!

:40:11. > :40:14.This is the scene at Horse Guards. You can see the seating laid out for

:40:15. > :40:16.Trooping the Colour next month. It should be quite something,

:40:17. > :40:23.celebrating the Queen's90th birthday. This is the procession of

:40:24. > :40:26.the Queen and Duke that umbrella as they make their way to Westminster.

:40:27. > :40:36.-- Juba you can see a tiny bit of fanfare in

:40:37. > :40:40.the distance there. In the Royal Gallery, another part of the royal

:40:41. > :40:46.part of the House of Lords, you can see it being lined by the Yeoman of

:40:47. > :40:49.the guard. This is the bits of the Lord Chancellor's procession that

:40:50. > :40:52.have no more to do at the moment, so they are walking back through the

:40:53. > :40:58.Royal Gallery from where they came. A few moments ago. At this moment,

:40:59. > :41:04.would you be watching it on the telly? Catching glimpses because

:41:05. > :41:08.there are screens around the place. Coming to collect the Cap of

:41:09. > :41:12.Maintenance and the sort of state is Field Marshal Lord Walker on the

:41:13. > :41:19.left, and the Leader of the House of Lords and the privy Seal Baroness

:41:20. > :41:25.Stowell of Beeston. They had underlings bringing the cap and

:41:26. > :41:32.soared from Buckingham Palace but from now on they will be responsible

:41:33. > :41:43.for them. They are stood by to receive them later on. On this

:41:44. > :41:47.rather grey day, the Queen'sprocession makes its way to

:41:48. > :41:51.Westminster. The funny thing is, the one thing everyone thought when the

:41:52. > :41:54.State Opening move to May is that it would be a lovely sunny day and

:41:55. > :41:59.people would get hot in their uniforms, well, 2014 was raining and

:42:00. > :42:04.here we go again. I bet those uniforms don't stand up to much

:42:05. > :42:08.rain? They don't and they are incredibly hot, particularly with

:42:09. > :42:12.stiff collars. The House of Lords, because so many people are crammed

:42:13. > :42:16.in there it gets very hot indeed. The November state openings were a

:42:17. > :42:19.relief. This is Prince's Chamber which has never been seen in live

:42:20. > :42:25.coverage before. This is the first time there has been a camera in the

:42:26. > :42:28.Prince 's Chamber. These are the Gentlemen at Arms, standing there

:42:29. > :42:32.because they are right behind the throne, the House of Lords is beyond

:42:33. > :42:38.that wall on the right. They are stood there because they are the

:42:39. > :42:42.closest guard to the sovereign. The Yeomen of the Guard are the oldest.

:42:43. > :42:48.There is a bit of jealousy there. The captain of the Gentlemen at Arms

:42:49. > :42:52.is the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords and he gets to wear a

:42:53. > :42:57.fantastic uniform today. And it is Lord Taylor of Holbeach. That

:42:58. > :43:00.standard, as you can see in the middle of your screen, will be

:43:01. > :43:10.lowered with an almighty sort of Walter Raleigh style flourish as the

:43:11. > :43:13.procession comes through. And the Queen'sprocession has made it to the

:43:14. > :43:26.Cenotaph. In the Diamond Jubilee coach. As coaches go, it's pretty

:43:27. > :43:30.modern? Electric windows. Going back further into history, there is a

:43:31. > :43:37.Sovereign 's Escort of the Household Cavalry.

:43:38. > :43:48.And the coachman are Mr Hargreaves, Kemp and McGregor. It is still

:43:49. > :43:52.magnificent even though it is damp. Truly magnificent, we will never see

:43:53. > :43:57.any kind of ceremony like this unless it is a coronation. This is

:43:58. > :44:01.the most ceremonial moment we will see a harmonic engaging in apart

:44:02. > :44:06.from the coronation. It is something very special and it obviously dates

:44:07. > :44:10.back to 1852, but the ceremony itself goes back to the 17th-century

:44:11. > :44:15.and beyond to the Middle Ages. The ball will be wondering what these

:44:16. > :44:20.uniforms are, why is this setup like this simply to go and read a speech?

:44:21. > :44:24.But it symbolises the constitutional monarchy. They have rather lost grip

:44:25. > :44:28.of the ceremony because Queen Victoria didn't turn up and got a

:44:29. > :44:34.bit lazy and hopeless and badly organised, didn't it? There was a

:44:35. > :44:39.Royal commission to look at it, and get it properly set up by Edward

:44:40. > :44:43.VII? Certainly Edward VII was a stickler for ceremony and he noticed

:44:44. > :44:47.that because his mother hadn't shown up and also she wasn't very

:44:48. > :44:50.interested in royal regalia, she was much more interested in the details

:44:51. > :44:55.of what monarchy did, he was concerned that the monarchy was

:44:56. > :44:58.losing respect and had to be reinvigorated at the start of the

:44:59. > :45:01.20th-century and it was crucial to re-examine this and it's thanks to

:45:02. > :45:52.him that we have the ceremony we have today.

:45:53. > :46:01.I think we should maybe stick with those pictures as the carriage head

:46:02. > :46:06.through into the Sovereign's Entrance.

:46:07. > :46:28.We are going to see a bit of a change this year. There are six

:46:29. > :46:32.horses drawing the carriage. Although the Earl Marshal

:46:33. > :46:42.acknowledges The Queen, she goes by the sovereign staircase. And this is

:46:43. > :46:53.where the great lift of state will come into play this year. As The

:46:54. > :47:01.Queen arrives at the Palace of Westminster, when she steps out, the

:47:02. > :47:08.Union Jack will be replaced by the sovereign standard. This year, the

:47:09. > :47:17.Norman staircase, as many will sympathise, way too much for The

:47:18. > :47:26.Queen and Prince Philip. Prince Philip is 95 in June. So there is a

:47:27. > :47:33.little lift, and it comes out just to the left of your screen.

:47:34. > :47:40.Actually, I discovered that it is one of the royal parts of the Palace

:47:41. > :47:44.of Westminster, this lift. Many of us are surprised that The Queen has

:47:45. > :47:49.not had to use a lift before and we are impressed that she has been

:47:50. > :47:53.using the stairs for so long. It is absolutely amazing. And it is a

:47:54. > :47:57.jolly long staircase. And very steep, especially when you are

:47:58. > :48:03.wearing such heavy regalia. I tried this lift a couple of days ago. It

:48:04. > :48:10.takes 15 seconds from the moment you press the right button. You did your

:48:11. > :48:15.research! Very exacting research. 15 seconds from pressing the button to

:48:16. > :48:21.the doors opening at this level here. But the time in the lift is

:48:22. > :48:25.only six to seven seconds. The thing I should not be mentioning here is,

:48:26. > :48:29.it is not noted for its reliability, this lift. The Lord Great

:48:30. > :48:36.Chamberlain has successfully emerged from the lift, followed by The Queen

:48:37. > :48:41.and Prince Philip. And I think there are all smiling because it went

:48:42. > :48:46.well. Lawrence? There are some notoriety about the lift. A couple

:48:47. > :48:50.of years ago, The Queen and Prince Philip and Black Rod got into the

:48:51. > :48:54.lift to go down, and unfortunately, somebody in one of the floors above

:48:55. > :48:58.pressed the call on the lift, so the lift went up instead and when it

:48:59. > :49:01.opened, there were two cleaners waiting to get in. You can imagine

:49:02. > :49:05.the shock on their faces when the door opened and there was The Queen

:49:06. > :49:09.and Duke of Edinburgh and Black Rod! But they found it very amusing. It

:49:10. > :49:14.worked this morning, and that the main thing. Actually, The Queen does

:49:15. > :49:19.come to the Palace of Westminster at other times. Yes, for State Opening,

:49:20. > :49:25.we have all the ritual, but she comes at other times. Probably a

:49:26. > :49:29.couple of times a year. For what sort of thing? I last met her when

:49:30. > :49:34.she wanted to look at her new window in Westminster Hall. There are the

:49:35. > :49:41.two Serjeant at arms from Buckingham Palace. We have seen four of them so

:49:42. > :49:44.far. But we have not seen the Serjeant at Arms. So she came to

:49:45. > :49:50.look at the new window in Westminster Hall? Yes. And she has

:49:51. > :50:00.held receptions in the Royal Gallery. And met staff. So she comes

:50:01. > :50:04.a couple of times a year. And those are different occasions, informal.

:50:05. > :50:11.There is Black Rod. The window we were talking about was paid for

:50:12. > :50:21.privately, so it was a personal gift from us to Her Majesty. The

:50:22. > :50:26.procession has arrived in the House of Lords. There are now in the world

:50:27. > :50:31.gallery. The heralds are facing the Robing Room. The Queen is in the

:50:32. > :50:35.Robing Room. It takes about nine minutes to put on the parliamentary

:50:36. > :50:38.robe and the Imperial State Crown. This is an ancient ceremony, one

:50:39. > :50:44.which Henry VIII himself might recognise at least parts of.

:50:45. > :50:45.The man charged with organising things

:50:46. > :50:48.inside the Palace of Westminster is the Duke of Norfolk,

:50:49. > :50:50.who is Earl Marshal of England and in fact

:50:51. > :51:13.England's premier Duke. I caught up with him a few days ago.

:51:14. > :51:15.We've had the job of Earl Marshal since 1483.

:51:16. > :51:17.We were given it along with the Dukedom of Norfolk

:51:18. > :51:21.We lost it again at the bottle of Bosworth in 1485.

:51:22. > :51:23.And throughout the whole of the 16th century,

:51:24. > :51:27.It's actually been hereditary in my family since 1672,

:51:28. > :51:33.It's all for love of Queen and country.

:51:34. > :51:35.There is absolutely no pay, no re-claiming expenses or anything.

:51:36. > :51:38.And indeed, things like the uniform cost quite a lot of money.

:51:39. > :51:41.The Earl Marshall organises great state occasions

:51:42. > :51:43.at the State Opening, overseeing 100 or so yeomen,

:51:44. > :51:48.Until the early years of this century, one of its duties involved

:51:49. > :51:50.walking backwards in front of the Queen.

:51:51. > :51:56.There was actually a period in the early noughties

:51:57. > :51:58.when we dumbed down somewhat and we stopped walking backwards

:51:59. > :52:04.It was somewhat frustrating that I'd just mastered the art of walking

:52:05. > :52:05.backwards by remembering the carpet pattern.

:52:06. > :52:08.That's how you do it, to avoid walking into the pillar

:52:09. > :52:14.I'd just mastered it when we decided to do away with it.

:52:15. > :52:17.But now I don't think that will come back.

:52:18. > :52:20.As ever, rehearsal and timing are key.

:52:21. > :52:23.In 2015, the Queen arrived at Parliament

:52:24. > :52:27.rather earlier than expected, and that meant Black Rod

:52:28. > :52:33.being kept waiting while the Commons finished prayers.

:52:34. > :52:36.I thought as I was processing down the Royal Gallery, oh my God,

:52:37. > :52:42.But I think he had to wait for about a minute and a quarter.

:52:43. > :52:59.But we try to make sure that we improvise and keep the show going.

:53:00. > :53:03.Just imagine the moment, the trumpets, the fanfare.

:53:04. > :53:07.The Queen is ready to come out of the Robing Room.

:53:08. > :53:12.What do you do at that point and what are you thinking at that point?

:53:13. > :53:19.I'm thinking about all the things that are going to happen

:53:20. > :53:24.I'm hoping that prayers will have finished in the Commons and Black

:53:25. > :53:29.I'm hoping that everybody is going to end up

:53:30. > :53:32.in the right place on the throne, in the House of Lords.

:53:33. > :53:36.I'm hoping that the Lord Chancellor will deliver the speech OK.

:53:37. > :53:39.And I'm hoping that when, after the speech is over,

:53:40. > :53:41.when we exit, that everyone will go through the right door.

:53:42. > :53:50.I'm terribly keen, as everybody is, that it goes well, that it

:53:51. > :53:54.Ceremonial and pageantry is something that we do very

:53:55. > :53:59.We are known in the world over for this.

:54:00. > :54:03.I think tourism is our second or third biggest industry.

:54:04. > :54:17.So I certainly get nervous and I'm quite relieved when it's over.

:54:18. > :54:25.We have got all that to come. Lawrence, Black Rod was actually

:54:26. > :54:31.kept out of the Commons a couple of times in your tenure. What have you

:54:32. > :54:41.got against him? He is known for being a bit erratic with his timing.

:54:42. > :54:47.There is your successor, Kamal el Hajji. He lays the mace. He did that

:54:48. > :54:50.very well. I bumped into him coming out of Westminster Underground

:54:51. > :54:54.station. He is rarely looking forward to today. He loves -- he's

:54:55. > :55:05.really looking forward to today. He loves the uniform. Black Rod set off

:55:06. > :55:11.early, but The Queen dispatches him. I know you are being diplomatic

:55:12. > :55:15.here. It is ironic, because a few weeks before, Black Rod was late for

:55:16. > :55:22.a march in of the troops. The principal doorkeeper asked where he

:55:23. > :55:30.was. We saw him from a distance, and they said, hurry up, Black Rod! And

:55:31. > :55:35.just a few weeks later, he was early for banging on the door of the

:55:36. > :55:39.Commons. On that occasion, the principal doorkeeper said to me, he

:55:40. > :55:45.is on his way already. So I said, get him to wait! But I think he was

:55:46. > :55:48.signalled early. Someone in the House of Lords, I will not say who,

:55:49. > :55:53.was getting a bit impatient. So the Lord Great Chamberlain signalled for

:55:54. > :55:56.Black Rod to go to the Commons, and we were still in the middle of

:55:57. > :56:01.prayers, so we had to ask him to slow down. It is said that The Queen

:56:02. > :56:05.doesn't like sitting on the throne fall that time, waiting for the

:56:06. > :56:10.Commons to turn up. Anything she can do to speed up the process, she

:56:11. > :56:16.will. It wasn't The Queen. And it ended up being far longer because of

:56:17. > :56:20.the waiting. Kate, the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl Marshal said

:56:21. > :56:23.tourism is important and it is lovely for tourists, but there must

:56:24. > :56:30.be more to the monarchy if it is to really fast, than that tourists like

:56:31. > :56:34.it? Yes. A lot of tourists don't know much about the opening of

:56:35. > :56:38.Parliament. I would not say tourists come just to watch this. They would

:56:39. > :56:43.have to be hard-core ceremonial fans. We have our viewers today in

:56:44. > :56:47.the United States. There are viewers, but this is not about

:56:48. > :56:52.tourism, it is about underlining the fact that the monarch is the guest

:56:53. > :56:56.of the house is of Parliament, the fact that the monarch is not there

:56:57. > :57:05.to interfere. She has to read out the speech. She is the guest. She is

:57:06. > :57:08.there at their discretion. It is not about the pomp, but to underline

:57:09. > :57:12.that this is the most important thing that the monarch does, to

:57:13. > :57:17.preside over the cost additional system. That is why she gets her

:57:18. > :57:22.crown out. -- the constitutional system. It is the job of the Head of

:57:23. > :57:28.State. It is much more important than the royal wedding. It might not

:57:29. > :57:33.be seen as the most exciting, but this is the key moment which

:57:34. > :57:37.underlines the relationship between state and monarch. Michael, at this

:57:38. > :57:40.point, you will have been sitting in the House of Lords. You have to take

:57:41. > :57:46.your seats quite early. You will have been there and our buy now. You

:57:47. > :57:52.don't get dedicated seats. So there is a bit of a bunfight. The earlier

:57:53. > :57:57.you get there, the better your seat. Can you save them for each other?

:57:58. > :58:01.No, you can't. I remember arriving late a couple of years ago because I

:58:02. > :58:06.was watching other parts of the ceremony. I found it exceedingly

:58:07. > :58:29.difficult and had to sit on the floor for a while.

:58:30. > :58:40.It is 11.28 am so we hope the Commons will have said their

:58:41. > :58:48.prayers. Here is this magnificent procession, passing through the

:58:49. > :58:59.world gallery. -- the Royal Gallery. It does look very mid-evil. --

:59:00. > :59:03.medieval. It is a moment in which The Queen herself, when she was

:59:04. > :59:09.preparing to be crowned, spent a lot of time ActiveSync for the fact that

:59:10. > :59:23.she -- she would spent a lot of time practising. This reveals how far

:59:24. > :59:35.back our monarchy goes. Let's enjoy it as it passes by.

:59:36. > :59:54.The Sword of State reaches the Princess chamber. We have never seen

:59:55. > :00:03.this before. -- the Prince's Chamber. We have only got three

:00:04. > :00:12.pages. One seems to have dropped out already. They don't faint on parade,

:00:13. > :00:23.but something happened. And in the House of Lords, everyone rises.

:00:24. > :00:27.Kate, she may not be using the stairs, but this Queen is wearing

:00:28. > :00:37.the crown. Victoria couldn't even get up the

:00:38. > :00:48.stairs of St Paul's during her Diamond Jubilee. She stayed in her

:00:49. > :00:52.carriage? Yes. Lords, be seated. She has surpassed Victoria as the

:00:53. > :01:01.longest monarchy and she is doing her job brilliantly. I think she has

:01:02. > :01:10.given the Lord Great Chamberlain did not -- the nod. He raises his wand.

:01:11. > :01:13.Is he on time, Black Rod? Back Rod is a good friend of mine and he

:01:14. > :01:19.works hard to get everything right here. Even with his eyesight, which

:01:20. > :01:24.is very acute, he couldn't see the wand from that distance so there are

:01:25. > :01:28.lights that go on that indicate it's time to set off. A bit of new

:01:29. > :01:34.technology? Absolutely, cutting edge. Right, this is him going

:01:35. > :01:38.through the Members lobby and you can see Keith Vaz, what is a prize,

:01:39. > :01:43.lined up to get a good place in the House of Lords. And he approaches

:01:44. > :01:59.the door of the House of Commons. Perfect. Open the doors! Who says

:02:00. > :02:03.that? That will be the Sergeant. You did that last year? Yes. That is

:02:04. > :02:25.your successor. Mr Speaker, the Queen commands that

:02:26. > :02:37.this honourable House to attend Her Majesty immediately in the house of

:02:38. > :02:42.Peers. Hands off the BBC! We will pass absolutely no comment on that

:02:43. > :02:47.in the studio! Lord Skinner, not Lord Skinner but one day, Dennis

:02:48. > :02:52.Skinner. Affectionately known as the beast of Bolsover. 84 years old,

:02:53. > :02:59.with his contributory role to the State Opening. He now ceremoniously

:03:00. > :03:02.since it out. John Bercow, the Speaker, the clerk of the House of

:03:03. > :03:19.Commons, and the Prime Minister alongside Jeremy Corbyn. In his

:03:20. > :03:23.first State Opening, Kamal El-Hajji. What were you hoping for in your

:03:24. > :03:28.first State Opening? Just that I did not trip over. The hind him his

:03:29. > :03:35.secretary and the chaplain of the House of Commons. -- behind him.

:03:36. > :03:39.When you get to the Lords the mace is taken from you. They walk

:03:40. > :03:42.backwards to collect it from your shoulder because it can't be in the

:03:43. > :03:46.House of Lords at the same time as the Queen. We all wonder what the

:03:47. > :03:49.Prime Minister and Jeremy Corbyn will say but they are not saying

:03:50. > :03:58.much. The Prime Minister has broken the ice. He's doing the talking. I

:03:59. > :04:01.wouldn't be surprised if Jeremy Corbyn found it a bit surprisingly

:04:02. > :04:07.find himself at the State Opening of Parliament in this whole,

:04:08. > :04:16.extraordinary royal engagement. Here they come. Being quite rabble like.

:04:17. > :04:22.Yes. Do people still dress up, MPs, for the day? Some do, some wear

:04:23. > :04:31.hats. That is normally where you see the good jewellery. It is a party

:04:32. > :04:35.occasion for both Houses. The House of Lords has been reconfigured for

:04:36. > :04:39.the day, the set out is not as it would be, and indeed in a few hours

:04:40. > :04:44.afterwards, some of the benches will be moved and taken out, so we can

:04:45. > :04:48.pack in as many people as we can. I thought actually that the bar was

:04:49. > :04:52.moved back, there is actually less rooms for the Commons and more for

:04:53. > :04:56.the peers. That is one of the difficult things you have just seen,

:04:57. > :05:01.all four of the key officials should arrive in line. There is not room to

:05:02. > :05:06.do that through the doorway, so there is jockeying. Black Rod on the

:05:07. > :05:11.left, the Speaker John Bercow, Serjeant at Arms Kamal El-Hajji, and

:05:12. > :05:16.they take their positions at the front and the party leaders and the

:05:17. > :05:24.Shadow Cabinet Members and other MPs are behind them. Earl Marshal now

:05:25. > :05:29.looking not at the Queen but towards what is called the bar of the house

:05:30. > :05:33.to see if he can get as many MPs in as possible. He signals the Lord

:05:34. > :05:55.Chancellor to deliver the speech. You can see the galleries packed on

:05:56. > :06:06.either side, the place is packed. My Lords and Members

:06:07. > :06:13.of the House of Commons, My Government will use the

:06:14. > :06:18.opportunity of a strengthening economy to deliver security for

:06:19. > :06:23.working people, to increase life chances for the most disadvantaged,

:06:24. > :06:28.and to strengthen national defences. My ministers will continue to bring

:06:29. > :06:34.the public finances under control, so that Britain lives within its

:06:35. > :06:40.means, and a move to a higher wage and lower welfare economy where work

:06:41. > :06:46.is rewarded. To support the economic recovery and create jobs and more

:06:47. > :06:49.apprenticeships, legislation will be introduced to ensure Britain has the

:06:50. > :06:57.infrastructure that businesses need to grow. Measures will be brought

:06:58. > :07:04.forward to create the right for every household to access high-speed

:07:05. > :07:07.broadband. Legislation will be introduced to improve Britain's

:07:08. > :07:13.competitiveness and make the United Kingdom a world leader in the

:07:14. > :07:16.digital economy. My ministers will ensure the United Kingdom is at the

:07:17. > :07:23.forefront of technology. For new forms of transport, including

:07:24. > :07:28.autonomous and electric vehicles. To spread economic prosperity my

:07:29. > :07:34.Government will continue to support the development of a northern

:07:35. > :07:40.powerhouse. In England, further powers will be devolved to directly

:07:41. > :07:46.elected mayors, including powers governing local bus services.

:07:47. > :07:51.Legislation will also allow local authorities to retain business

:07:52. > :07:57.rates, having them more freedom to invest in local communities. My

:07:58. > :08:02.Government will support aspiration and promote homeownership through

:08:03. > :08:10.its commitment to build 1 million new homes. Following last week 's

:08:11. > :08:14.anti-corruption summit in London, legislation will be introduced to

:08:15. > :08:22.tackle corruption, money-laundering, and tax evasion. My Government will

:08:23. > :08:27.continue work to deliver NHS services over seven days of the week

:08:28. > :08:31.in England. Legislation will be introduced to ensure that overseas

:08:32. > :08:36.visitors pay for the health treatment that they receive at

:08:37. > :08:42.public expense. New legislation will be introduced to tackle some of the

:08:43. > :08:49.deepest social problems in society. And improve life chances. A bill

:08:50. > :08:53.will be introduced to ensure that children can be adopted by new

:08:54. > :08:58.families without delay. Improve the standard of social work, and

:08:59. > :09:05.opportunities for young people in care in England. To tackle poverty

:09:06. > :09:11.and the causes of deprivation, including family instability,

:09:12. > :09:16.addiction and debt my Government will introduce new indicators for

:09:17. > :09:23.measuring life chances. Legislation will be introduced to establish a

:09:24. > :09:29.soft drinks industry levy to help tackle childhood obesity. Measures

:09:30. > :09:39.will be introduced to help the lowest income families to save

:09:40. > :09:47.through a new Help to Save scheme and to create a lifetime ISA to help

:09:48. > :09:50.young people to save in the long-term. My Government will

:09:51. > :09:55.continue to reform public services so they help the hardest to reach. A

:09:56. > :09:58.bill will be brought forward to lay the foundations for educational

:09:59. > :10:04.excellence in all schools, giving every child the best start in life.

:10:05. > :10:12.There will also be a fairer balance between schools through the national

:10:13. > :10:15.funding formula. To ensure that more people have the opportunity to

:10:16. > :10:22.further their education, legislation will be introduced to support the

:10:23. > :10:24.establishment of new universities and to promote choice and

:10:25. > :10:33.competition across the higher education sector. My Government will

:10:34. > :10:39.legislate to reform prisons and courts, to give individuals a second

:10:40. > :10:44.chance. Prison governors will be given unprecedented freedom, and

:10:45. > :10:53.they will be able to ensure prisoners receive better education.

:10:54. > :10:56.Old and inefficient prisons will be closed and new institutions built,

:10:57. > :11:04.where prisoners can be put to more effective work. Action will also be

:11:05. > :11:10.taken to ensure a better mental health provision for individuals in

:11:11. > :11:12.the criminal justice system. My Government will continue to work to

:11:13. > :11:20.bring communities together and strengthen society. Legislation will

:11:21. > :11:24.be introduced to prevent radicalisation, tackle extremism in

:11:25. > :11:33.all its forms, and promote community integration. National citizens

:11:34. > :11:41.service will be placed on a permanent statutory footing. My

:11:42. > :11:43.Government will continue to safeguard national security, my

:11:44. > :11:50.ministers will invest in Britain's Armed Forces, honouring the military

:11:51. > :11:56.covenant, and meeting the Nato commitment to spend 2% of national

:11:57. > :12:03.income on defence. They will also act to secure the long-term future

:12:04. > :12:09.of Britain's nuclear deterrent. My Government will continue to play a

:12:10. > :12:12.leading role in world affairs, using its global presence to tackle

:12:13. > :12:21.climate change and address major international security, economic and

:12:22. > :12:27.humanitarian challenges. My Government will continue to work to

:12:28. > :12:34.resolve the conflict in Ukraine. It will play a leading role in the

:12:35. > :12:36.campaign against Daesh and to support international efforts to

:12:37. > :12:43.bring peace to Syria through a lasting political settlement.

:12:44. > :12:45.Britain's commitment on international development spending

:12:46. > :12:52.will also be honoured. Helping to deliver global stability, support

:12:53. > :13:00.the sustainable development goals, and prevent new threats to national

:13:01. > :13:03.security. Prince Philip and I look forward to welcoming his Excellency

:13:04. > :13:11.the President of Colombia on a state visit in November. My Government

:13:12. > :13:19.will continue with legislation to modernise the law governing the use

:13:20. > :13:25.of oversight of investigatory Powers by law enforcement, security, and

:13:26. > :13:28.intelligence agencies. Legislation will strengthen the capability and

:13:29. > :13:35.accountability of the police service in England and Wales. My Government

:13:36. > :13:41.will hold a referendum on membership of the European Union. Proposals

:13:42. > :13:52.will be brought forward for a British Bill of Rights. My ministers

:13:53. > :13:55.will uphold this sovereignty of Parliament and the primacy of the

:13:56. > :14:00.House of Commons. My Government will continue to work in cooperation with

:14:01. > :14:08.the devolved administrations, to implement the extensive new powers

:14:09. > :14:13.in the Scotland Act and establish a strong and lasting devolution

:14:14. > :14:16.settlement in Wales. My Government will work in Northern Ireland to

:14:17. > :14:20.secure further progress in implementing the storm onto house

:14:21. > :14:34.and Fresh Start Agreements. -- storm Estimates for the public services

:14:35. > :14:39.will be laid before you. My Lords and Members of the House of Commons,

:14:40. > :14:43.other measures will be laid before you. I pray that the blessing of

:14:44. > :15:04.Almighty God may rest upon your counsels.

:15:05. > :15:12.The speech successfully delivered by the Queen, the Lord Chancellor has

:15:13. > :15:19.retrieved it. And three page boys come forward to collect the

:15:20. > :15:21.Queen'strain and it's a heavy job for one of them because he is taking

:15:22. > :16:03.the job for one that is missing. So, emerging through the Prince's

:16:04. > :16:12.chamber, the royal procession makes its way back. A lovely site here of

:16:13. > :16:19.the Prince's chamber, which we have not seen before. It is said that

:16:20. > :16:26.they will hand in their access before they leave, which is wise

:16:27. > :16:39.advice. Field Marshal Montgomery. He was a general till 2014. They had

:16:40. > :16:43.given up making field marshals because the pension was too high

:16:44. > :16:46.when they retired, but now they have changed it back again and they are

:16:47. > :16:51.honorary Field Marshall. So I don't think they get the pay, but they do

:16:52. > :16:55.get the bank. He was a former chief of defence staff. We talked about

:16:56. > :17:00.tourism earlier, and of course, tourism is a huge part of what makes

:17:01. > :17:05.this country but is. But it is possible on normal days for normal

:17:06. > :17:08.members of the public to walk exactly the route that The Queen is

:17:09. > :17:14.walking now, through the Royal Gallery, into the chamber itself. It

:17:15. > :17:18.is a wonderful opportunity to see that extraordinary building from the

:17:19. > :17:24.outside and at close quarters. The Royal Gallery is beautiful. Pictures

:17:25. > :17:29.of the battle of Waterloo and Trafalgar line the two sites, and

:17:30. > :17:33.when presidents of France come to address both houses, they are not

:17:34. > :17:37.very easy to keep discreet, because there are enormous pictures. There

:17:38. > :17:41.are wonderful. They were painted by an Irishman who fell out with the

:17:42. > :17:44.palace authorities because they refused to pay him openly.

:17:45. > :17:49.Apparently, in one of the murals, there is, in the rafters of the

:17:50. > :17:58.destroyed farmhouse at Waterloo, supposedly a copy of his unpaid bill

:17:59. > :18:03.that he put in. I can confirm that that uniform does cost thousands of

:18:04. > :18:12.pounds. Here is your replacement, 4+1. At this point, would you be

:18:13. > :18:15.thinking, this went to Kate? I think Kamal el Hajji will be thinking,

:18:16. > :18:21.thank goodness that is out of the way. It is a huge relief when Her

:18:22. > :18:25.Majesty is in the carriage and on her way back. She is not in the

:18:26. > :18:34.carriage yet, she is in the Robing Room. It has been very good timing.

:18:35. > :18:38.That is the fifth Mace we have seen today, carried by the primary

:18:39. > :18:43.Serjeant at Arms of the Palace of Westminster. And the 41st. Now, you

:18:44. > :18:51.laid the Mace on the table, that people don't stay, do they? So what

:18:52. > :18:56.does it mean? It is one of those things that only happens on State

:18:57. > :19:00.Opening day. The House is now suspended, and doorkeepers will keep

:19:01. > :19:05.guard of the Mace. But the House will not come back until later today

:19:06. > :19:09.to discuss the Queen's Speech. And before you discuss the Queen's

:19:10. > :19:16.Speech, there is the first and only reading of that outlaw Bill, which

:19:17. > :19:23.is essentially guarantees rights to persons arrested. It dates back to

:19:24. > :19:32.the 12th or 13th century, but it has a purpose? It does have a purpose.

:19:33. > :19:37.The Speaker will use the opportunity to address members and talk about

:19:38. > :19:43.the importance of security and rights of access and all those kinds

:19:44. > :19:48.of things. It is the one statement of the year where he will reinforce

:19:49. > :19:52.those messages. And the Commons will return to their business first

:19:53. > :19:56.before that of the sovereign. But it doesn't ever get beyond the first

:19:57. > :20:00.reading, so we made there for this cover what happens at the end. The

:20:01. > :20:04.Lords do it as well. They maintain their own independence. They have a

:20:05. > :20:08.bill on select vestry is. I only discovered what those were in March,

:20:09. > :20:15.and the parish church of Berwick-upon-Tweed. A select vestry

:20:16. > :20:24.is not a very posh vestry. A select vestry was a kind of parish council.

:20:25. > :20:32.It is not beautiful or nicely carpeted. Michael, if you rush back

:20:33. > :20:36.into the Lords, you would get a first reading of the select vestry.

:20:37. > :20:40.We are getting a lot of nice pictures in the Commons. You can see

:20:41. > :20:45.the Sergeant standing up, using the opportunity to talk to members. I

:20:46. > :20:49.didn't. I was out of their pretty sharpish! Having a quick Lucozade

:20:50. > :20:55.somewhere. It is a party date, really. The members may be going off

:20:56. > :20:58.to drink parties or get together with their friends, bringing guests

:20:59. > :21:04.in for lunch. It is a wonderful party atmosphere, the State Opening.

:21:05. > :21:10.But for MPs, is it important, Lawrence? It provides a framework.

:21:11. > :21:15.It is the one date in the calendar that every thing hinges off. It is

:21:16. > :21:22.also a good social occasion. Many members will bring their partners or

:21:23. > :21:27.family to Parliament for the day. The Serjeant at Arms used to be

:21:28. > :21:32.military people. What was your root? It was not military. I used to be

:21:33. > :21:36.the postmaster at Parliament. I was in charge of the postal service, and

:21:37. > :21:40.I kind of hung around and did lots of jobs. But it was after the

:21:41. > :21:44.anthrax attacks in the US through the mail that I got more into the

:21:45. > :21:49.security side of things. I was sent to Washington to find out how to

:21:50. > :21:52.find anthrax in the post. After developing a male security solution

:21:53. > :21:56.for Parliament, I was asked to manage the police contract. Then I

:21:57. > :22:00.became the assistant Serjeant at Arms and then in 2012, I became

:22:01. > :22:02.Serjeant at Arms. I worked my way up over 18 years.

:22:03. > :22:05.Well, we've been joined in the studio by our parliamentary

:22:06. > :22:12.Susan, what did you make of today's announcements?

:22:13. > :22:16.Isn't it extraordinary for a start that you have all the gold and

:22:17. > :22:22.glitter and the royalty, and as Lawrence was saying, the political

:22:23. > :22:27.year usually hinges off the Queen's Speech as well. But less so this

:22:28. > :22:31.year. If you can talk about that being a sideshow, in a way it is,

:22:32. > :22:36.because the political focus is so much on the referendum next month.

:22:37. > :22:41.If it is a vote to leave, a great deal of this will go by the board

:22:42. > :22:48.because a great deal of the government's attention will be taken

:22:49. > :22:51.up with making that happen. Some of us were surprised to have a Queen's

:22:52. > :22:59.Speech right now. We thought it might have come after the

:23:00. > :23:02.referendum. I think what David Cameron has wanted to do is

:23:03. > :23:05.something that will not fight on the horses, that can bring people

:23:06. > :23:14.together and is not too controversial. Nothing to see here?

:23:15. > :23:17.Exactly, business as usual. Do you think any of the bills are fairly

:23:18. > :23:24.uncontroversial. My heart always leaps when I see a bus services

:23:25. > :23:28.Bill(!). I will come back to you, Susan, because The Queen has taken

:23:29. > :23:34.off the Imperial State Crown and the Parliamentary rope, and she's

:23:35. > :23:39.quitting the two captains of the bodyguard, Lord Taylor of Holbeach

:23:40. > :23:46.and Lord Gardiner of Kimble. And they are political figures. The

:23:47. > :23:50.Chief Whip of the House of Lords is on the right and the deputy Chief

:23:51. > :23:56.Whip on the left in the foreground in military uniform. They are like

:23:57. > :24:00.you Lawrence, they were not at all military. Chris Grayling is making a

:24:01. > :24:06.joke about the speech. He is president of the Council. And she is

:24:07. > :24:18.now turning to Lady stole on the left. Chris Grayling looks a bit

:24:19. > :24:27.underdressed. And next to him, the Lord Chancellor. This is a quite

:24:28. > :24:30.different gathering to what we normally see, because The Queen

:24:31. > :24:34.normally comes out of the Robing Room and chats to a line of people

:24:35. > :24:45.and then goes down the staircase. Here, we have a milling around on

:24:46. > :24:47.this landing. There are busts on this landing of every Prime Minister

:24:48. > :25:08.who was a member of the House of Lords. The last one is Lord Hume,

:25:09. > :25:12.Alec Douglas Hume. I can't help noticing that the Lord Chancellor

:25:13. > :25:15.and the Lord President are both Brexiteers in the great debate that

:25:16. > :25:24.is going on. Luckily, we don't know the views of the Earl Marshal or the

:25:25. > :25:29.Lord Great Chamberlain. And she's going to disappear. She is waiting

:25:30. > :25:33.for the Duke of Edinburgh, who is chatting with the chiefs of defence

:25:34. > :25:38.staff, and they disappear into what we shall call the gold lift of

:25:39. > :25:44.state. It is actually quite heavily lined with brass, but mainly would,

:25:45. > :25:48.and the really reassuring thing is that it has a little Speaker and

:25:49. > :25:51.when you get stuck in the lift and Black Rod has run out of jokes to

:25:52. > :25:58.tell you on the way down, you can call for help. Susan, the actual

:25:59. > :26:05.bills. Why don't you pick out one or two? First David Cameron has written

:26:06. > :26:08.recently that he wants the next four years to be a period of social

:26:09. > :26:14.transformation in Britain, maybe getting back to his roots before he

:26:15. > :26:17.became Prime Minister, the hug a would-be thing, as it was

:26:18. > :26:23.characterised in the press. There are a number of social bills. There

:26:24. > :26:26.is the children and social worker Bill. That will make it easier for

:26:27. > :26:31.children to become formally adopted and taken on by a family. There is

:26:32. > :26:36.more regulation for social workers as well. There will be an education

:26:37. > :26:40.bill. That has run into trouble already. It was something David

:26:41. > :26:42.Cameron had mentioned at Prime Minister's Questions a few weeks

:26:43. > :26:47.ago. He said, I can give you one preview of the Queen's Speech, and

:26:48. > :26:53.it will be this bill to make all schools in England academies. That

:26:54. > :26:58.then run into trouble. It was one of the faster U-turns. It was. We may

:26:59. > :27:07.come to why that has happened and why they might want to avoid that.

:27:08. > :27:11.What about this Bill of Rights? So far, what we have her disability.

:27:12. > :27:15.There will be a great deal of consultation about it. It is

:27:16. > :27:21.something that many Conservatives want very much, for the British

:27:22. > :27:26.courts to be supreme in comparison with the European Court of Justice.

:27:27. > :27:32.Is something happening? Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by the world

:27:33. > :27:39.you can Edinburgh, has got back into the diamond jubilee carriage. And it

:27:40. > :27:51.emerges into the rain, I'm afraid to say, of old palace yard. She is

:27:52. > :27:57.quite dry in that carriage and it is a condition, but I hope they turned

:27:58. > :27:59.up the heating inside. It is May, so of course, it is freezing cold and

:28:00. > :28:44.reining. Susan, you were talking about the

:28:45. > :28:47.Bill of Rights. Let's come on to what is perhaps the centrepiece of

:28:48. > :28:53.this. We may have to wait, because emerging straightaway is Prince

:28:54. > :28:58.Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. He has been attending State Opening

:28:59. > :29:05.for the last three years, but there was a long period when he didn't?

:29:06. > :29:08.Yes, he began in 2013. In 2012 during the diamond jubilee, The

:29:09. > :29:12.Queen announced that she was going to hand more of the foreign travel

:29:13. > :29:17.over to Charles and more of the general duties as well. This is what

:29:18. > :29:24.we are seeing. The Queen is never going to abdicate, but we are going

:29:25. > :29:29.to see Charles take on more of the duties. In five or six years' time,

:29:30. > :29:34.he may be the one giving the speech. This is quite an arduous

:29:35. > :29:40.performance. It may be that Charles takes over in the future while The

:29:41. > :29:43.Queen is still our monarch. It is a fundamental role to the

:29:44. > :29:47.constitutional Head of State. It is a key role, and one of the last ones

:29:48. > :29:52.she will give up, because it undermines the most important thing

:29:53. > :29:56.to her -- it underlines the most important thing to her. She has set

:29:57. > :30:01.the bar for future monarch is very high.

:30:02. > :30:08.Tell us more about the politics, on the Bill of Rights, will it be

:30:09. > :30:13.tricky? It can't be tricky at the moment because there is so little

:30:14. > :30:16.detail. In the speech, in the background to the speech we have

:30:17. > :30:20.heard from the Government they have said that it will be up for

:30:21. > :30:23.discussion and there will be plenty of discussions. The idea clearly is

:30:24. > :30:29.to bring in as many people to heal some of those wounds that the

:30:30. > :30:33.referendum campaign may have created. What I think is the

:30:34. > :30:38.centrepiece is prison reform, Michael Gove is very committed, the

:30:39. > :30:44.Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, to prison reform, a very

:30:45. > :30:48.different Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor to Chris Grayling. What

:30:49. > :31:01.does he want to do? At the stroke of 12, tell us at the stroke of 12. I

:31:02. > :31:05.will do it in time with the bongs. He will be giving prisons more

:31:06. > :31:09.autonomy like with academy schools. It's all very well giving autonomy

:31:10. > :31:10.but jails are very overcrowded and you have to look at sentencing and

:31:11. > :31:33.funding as well. We will pause there for a Royal

:31:34. > :31:39.Salute, for Prince Charles, he only gets half of the national anthem. As

:31:40. > :31:42.the Crown departs. You are a Conservative peer, Michael, you are

:31:43. > :31:46.at civil war in the Conservative Party at the moment. You have a long

:31:47. > :31:52.political memory and mine is reasonable, wasn't like this in the

:31:53. > :31:55.1975 referendum, there are two Conservative parties and if you

:31:56. > :31:58.don't come together on what David Cameron wants to do presently than

:31:59. > :32:03.it is hard to see you coming together after the referendum? I

:32:04. > :32:06.would call it a debate rather than a civil war but I understand why you

:32:07. > :32:13.are turning it like that. One Members going back to 1975, the

:32:14. > :32:20.Labour Party itself was torn apart so there is nothing new in politics.

:32:21. > :32:22.There will undoubtedly be a very important period after the

:32:23. > :32:30.referendum where everybody reassesses where we are. How long...

:32:31. > :32:33.Another month, five or six weeks, it is not pleasant within the

:32:34. > :32:38.Conservative Party? The opposition is from within their own side.

:32:39. > :32:43.Wouldn't you say, the role of the actual legal opposition was almost

:32:44. > :32:47.left out while the Conservatives battle on. Indeed. I think we have

:32:48. > :32:53.seen that in the whole of this last Parliamentary year. It has looked a

:32:54. > :32:58.lot like the opposition came from the Lords, 60 defeats in the House

:32:59. > :33:00.of Lords, but in fact the Government doesn't have to pay much attention

:33:01. > :33:06.to those House of Lords defeats because even with the small majority

:33:07. > :33:09.you should be able to overturn them. Some Lords amendments go through in

:33:10. > :33:14.the end and they get a few victories. They do. There is

:33:15. > :33:18.compromise. Where there is a sticking point and the Government

:33:19. > :33:21.didn't want to compromise our ones where Conservative MPs have also

:33:22. > :33:30.have their doubts and wanted to go along with what the Lords have said.

:33:31. > :33:35.61 defeats. Around 60. 61 defeats in the House of Lords. I could not

:33:36. > :33:38.possibly completely view on detail this morning! Two defeats in the

:33:39. > :33:47.House of Commons which was a turn-up for the books three actually. We are

:33:48. > :33:51.even now! That is unusual for a majority Government. It is and other

:33:52. > :33:56.defeats were staved off for example on the academies issue, the child

:33:57. > :34:03.migrants issue. That's because with a tiny majority you are limited in

:34:04. > :34:05.what you can do. Now the Crown, just back into the carriage. Placed there

:34:06. > :34:23.by the crown jeweller. The final act. The Cap of

:34:24. > :34:27.Maintenance and the Sword of State make their way back to Buckingham

:34:28. > :34:44.Palace. In the Queen Alexandra State coach. The coach men are on board. A

:34:45. > :34:49.tap of the reins and they will be on their way. The important memory that

:34:50. > :34:56.carriages do not pay the congestion charge in central London. Because

:34:57. > :35:04.they are, in that sense, very fuel-efficient. Nonpolluting. I will

:35:05. > :35:11.put it to you because it is not my opinion, Lord Dodds, but you are

:35:12. > :35:14.skating over this internal battle in the Conservative Party. You wouldn't

:35:15. > :35:19.expect me to make it worse than it is. Go on! This is an historic vote

:35:20. > :35:25.and we have never had a vote which is as meaningful as this referendum

:35:26. > :35:29.vote. It's not surprising that people take it very seriously with

:35:30. > :35:33.great passion and you would expect a bit of argy-bargy. I would not say

:35:34. > :35:40.it has gone too far but it is doing damage to the Conservative Party and

:35:41. > :35:43.there will be a difficult and hugely important job of reconciliation

:35:44. > :35:47.afterwards to put the party back together again. One of the advantage

:35:48. > :35:52.of it being in June is that it gives us time before the next election and

:35:53. > :35:58.in party political terms that is important. Lovely passing shot of

:35:59. > :36:03.the Commons. Lawrence, you are above party, but you have seen some of

:36:04. > :36:05.these battles in the first year of the Conservative Government? You

:36:06. > :36:10.could see which way the wind was blowing. What was it like in the

:36:11. > :36:18.Commons at times? Very difficult. Passions run high. You know, people

:36:19. > :36:22.have very deep-seated opinions about certain things and believe they are

:36:23. > :36:25.right. But I think it's important for officials and particularly

:36:26. > :36:30.people like the Serjeant at Arms and the Speaker, to try to rise above

:36:31. > :36:36.that and be impartial and have friends and colleagues on all sides

:36:37. > :36:40.of the Chamber, and most importantly to be seen to be impartial and that

:36:41. > :36:44.is what I tried to do and it can be a tight rope because people always

:36:45. > :36:48.point the finger and say, you are giving privileges to one side or

:36:49. > :36:52.another. You are judged at the end of the day on your actions rather

:36:53. > :36:58.than on what you say, and it's really important that you tried to

:36:59. > :37:04.keep within the framework of the rules, but you know, also allow the

:37:05. > :37:08.House to express itself. A lovely note of unity. Another State

:37:09. > :37:12.Opening, will we still see them in a hundred years best mark I think we

:37:13. > :37:16.will and we will continue to see them and some of the pomp and

:37:17. > :37:25.circumstance may be reduced in 50 or a hundred years. But they have

:37:26. > :37:28.brought bits back. We have blinged it up as the Duke of Norfolk was

:37:29. > :37:32.saying. We are waiting for the Michael Dobbs lecture on that.

:37:33. > :37:33.Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.

:37:34. > :37:37.I think we have successfully covered and enjoyed the pomp

:37:38. > :37:40.and the politics, so my grateful thanks to historian Kate Williams,

:37:41. > :37:42.the former Serjeant at Arms of the House of Commons,

:37:43. > :37:50.Lawrence Ward, and the thriller writer Lord Dobbs.

:37:51. > :37:54.Thank you too to our parliamentary correspondent Susan Hulme and thank

:37:55. > :38:03.The Queen and other members of the royal family are heading back

:38:04. > :38:07.to the Palace, the Commons have returned to their Place and as far

:38:08. > :38:12.as I can see from the pictures on the screen, the peers are trying

:38:13. > :38:16.as fast as they can to get out of the House of Lords, where they've

:38:17. > :38:21.Probably going towards their refreshments.

:38:22. > :38:25.Join us at 2.30 this afternoon live on BBC Parliament for our coverage

:38:26. > :38:28.of the Queen's Speech debate in the House of Commons,

:38:29. > :38:32.where the Prime Minister will commend the propositions put

:38:33. > :38:35.forward in the Speech this morning and we'll hear what the Leader

:38:36. > :38:38.of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, has to say in his first speech

:38:39. > :38:51.It will be Jeremy Corbyn's first outing as his role as Leader of the

:38:52. > :38:54.Opposition. Join us on BBC Parliament for that live debate at

:38:55. > :39:00.2:30pm. Thank you for watching this morning. I hope you have all enjoyed

:39:01. > :39:03.it. Every good afternoon to you. -- a very good afternoon.