Here are some photos from today’s State Opening of Parliament in London. King Charles and Queen Camilla attended the opening in their regalia and crowns, while Keir Starmer and the MPs all wore their business looks, because it’s the middle of the day and it’s insane that the queen consort is expected to show up in a full gown, dripping in stolen diamonds.
Charles wore one of his military dress uniforms – the Admiral of the Fleet Royal Naval Number 1 Dress uniform. The Imperial State Crown rode shotgun in the gold carriage on the way to Parliament. Then when Charles got to the building, they put the ermine cape (the Parliament Robe of State) over his uniform and the crown was placed on his head. Is there a technical reason why he didn’t wear the crown for the carriage journey? I would assume he didn’t wear it because it’s insanely heavy.
As for Camilla, she wore the Diamond Diadem for the opening. This was one of QEII’s favorite pieces and she wore it often for state occasions. Today is Cam’s birthday too – she really looted the Royal Collection for her birthday, huh?
At last year’s state opening, Republic protestors were positioned strategically on the route, and their yellow “Not My King” posters were widely photographed alongside the gold carriage. This time around, it looks like photographers changed their positions so that it wouldn’t be so obvious that there were hundreds of republican protestors on the route, because I have not seen many photos with the yellow signs. Still, Republic posted this:
BREAKING NEWS Hundreds of republicans have just told Charles that he’s not their King at the #StateOpening of Parliament!
It’s time to end royal influence over our House of Commons. #NotMyKing #AbolishTheMonarchy pic.twitter.com/Yhyrzb7Kus
— Republic (@RepublicStaff) July 17, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.