State Opening of Parliament
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In the United Kingdom, the State Opening of Parliament is an annual event held usually in October or November that marks the commencement of a session of Parliament. It is held in the House of Lords Chamber after Parliament first assembles in consequence of a General Election and each November thereafter.
The State Opening is a lavish ceremony. First, the cellars of the Palace of Westminster are searched in order to prevent a modern-day Gunpowder Plot. The Plot of 1605 involved a failed attempt by English Catholics to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill the Protestant king and aristocracy. Since that year, the cellars have been searched, but for the sake of form only.
The Queen arrives at the Palace of Westminster in a horse-drawn coach, entering through Sovereign's Entrance under the Victoria Tower. Then, after she takes on the Robes of State and the Imperial State Crown in the Robing Chamber, the Queen enters the Lords Chamber and takes a seat at the Throne. The ceremony is traditionally held in the Lords Chamber rather than in the Commons Chamber due to a custom initiated in the seventeenth century. In 1642, King Charles I entered the Commons Chamber and attempted to arrest five members. The Speaker famously defied the King, refusing to inform him as to where the members were hiding. Ever since that incident, no monarch has entered the House of Commons.
Once on the Throne, the Queen, wearing the Imperial State Crown, orders the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod to summon the Commons. As Black Rod approaches the doors to the Chamber of the Commons, they are closed in his face—symbolically to show the independence of the Lower House. Black Rod then strikes three times with his staff (from which he derives his name), and in reply to the challenge "Who is there?" answers "Black Rod". He is then admitted and issues the summons of the monarch to attend, in the following words: "Mr./Madam Speaker, The Queen commands this honourable House to attend Her Majesty immediately in the House of Peers". While the Speaker proceeds to attend the summons at once, it is common for one or two senior Members of Parliament to heckle Black Rod at this time. The ritual indicates the Commons right to deliberate independently of the monarch. Members of the House of Commons then slowly walk towards the House of Lords, forming two lines behind the Speaker -- by custom, the members rather saunter, with much discussion and joking, rather than formally process. The Prime Minister and the leader of the loyal Opposition usually walk side by side, leading the two lines of MP's.
The Commons then arrive at the Bar of the House of Lords (no person who is not a member of the Upper House may pass the Bar unbidden when it is in session; a similar rule applies to the Commons), where they bow to the Queen. Instead of entering the Chamber, the Commons remain at the Bar for the Speech. The Queen reads a prepared speech (known as the Speech from the Throne or the Queen's Speech) outlining Her Government's agenda for the coming year. The speech is not written by the Queen, but rather by the Cabinet, and reflects the agenda of the party in power in the House of Commons. Following the Speech, the Commons bow again and return to their Chamber.
After the Queen leaves, each Chamber proceeds to the consideration of an "Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Gracious Speech." But first, each House considers a bill pro forma to symbolize their right to deliberate independently of the monarch. In the House of Lords, the bill is called the Select Vestries Bill, while the Commons equivalent is the Outlawries Bill. The Bills are considered for the sake of form only, and do not make any actual progress. The consideration of the Address in reply to the Royal Speech is the occasion for a debate on the Government's agenda.
The Queen reads the entire Speech in the same tone, so as to indicate her neutrality, implying neither approval nor disapproval of the policies she is announcing. Since the Cabinet is formally Her Majesty's Government, the Queen makes constant reference to "My Government" when reading the text. It is also customary for the Queen, after listing the main bills that will be introduced during the yearly session, to state: "other measures will be laid before you", thus giving the Government ability to introduce other bills, not mentioned in the Speech.
Traditionally, the Houses of Parliament listen to the speech respectfully, keeping total silence in the presence of the monarch, neither applauding nor showing dissent towards the Speech's contents. This silence, however, was broken once in 1998, when the Queen announced the Government's plan of abolishing the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords. A few members cried "No" and "shame", prompting others to shout "yes" and "hear hear". The Queen continued delivering Her Speech without any pause, ignoring the intervention. The conduct of those who interrupted the Speech was highly criticised at the time.
Similar ceremonies are held in some Commonwealth realms where there are two houses of parliament, such as Canada and Australia, but the Governor-General is usually present and reads the Speech from the Throne, instead of the Queen. In the United States, a similar pageantry is used for the annual State of the Union Address, given by the President of the United States, in which both houses of Congress, along with the members of the Supreme Court of the United States the Cabinet, and the four military chiefs of the U.S. Armed Forces, meet in the House chamber. The Vice President of the United States and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the presiding officers of the Senate and House of Representatives respectively, sit behind the President duing the address.
The debate on the Address in Reply is spread over several days. On each day, a different topic, such as foreign affairs or finance, is considered. The debate provides an indication of the views of the Parliament regarding the government's agenda.de:Parlamentseröffnung fr:Cérémonie d'ouverture du Parlement (Royaume-Uni) he:פתיחת הפרלמנט