The King and Queen marked a new milestone on Tuesday, attending the first State Opening of Parliament of their reign. Charles, who turns 75 next week, delivered his first King’s Speech as pomp and ceremony returned to the House of Lords.
The King and Queen were joined by their pages of honour at the ceremony, including one of Camilla’s family members.
His Majesty was accompanied by: Nicholas Barclay, grandson of Sarah Troughton (one of the Queen’s Companions), Lord Oliver Cholmondeley, son of the Marquess of Cholmondeley, also known as filmmaker David Rocksavage, Ralph Tollemache, son of one of Charles’s godsons, and Charles van Cutsem, son of family friends Hugh and Rose van Cutsem.
The Queen was accompanied by two of her Queen’s Companions as well as two pages – William Keswick and Arthur Elliot – the latter who is her great-nephew and the son of Camilla’s nephew, Ben Elliot.
Nicholas, Lord Oliver, Ralph and Arthur all appeared as pages of honour at the King and Queen’s coronation back in May.
Prince George also acted as one of his grandfather Charles’s pages on the day, but the future king is taking his first major tests this week, likely to be entrance exams for his future school.
Camilla, 76, brought back her embroidered Bruce Oldfield gown from the coronation and made her debut in the late Queen’s Diamond Diadem.
Meanwhile, Charles wore the Imperial State Crown for the first time since his historic 6 May ceremony.
It marked the first time the bejeweled crown appeared on a monarch’s head at a state opening the first time in seven years.
It weighs more than 1kg and is adorned with 2,901 precious stones, including the Cullinan II diamond – making it very, very heavy!
In recent years, given her age, the late Queen Elizabeth II wore the smaller George IV State Diadem or for pared-down ceremonies, a hat and day dress.
In his speech, the King paid tribute to his “beloved mother,” who passed away at the age of 96 in September 2022.
“It is mindful of the legacy of service and devotion to this country set by my beloved mother, the late Queen, that I deliver this, the first King’s Speech in over 70 years,” the King said in a poignant start to the ceremony.
Charles took 11 and a half minutes to read his government’s 1,223 words, the longest text for nearly 20 years.
