After a year of royal firsts for King Charles III in his new position as Britain's sovereign, the U.K. government has announced that the first State Opening of Parliament of his reign is scheduled to take place at the Palace of Westminster on November 7.
Charles, as king, has the power to officially open and dissolve each session of Parliament in Britain, and will deliver the first "King's Speech" in over 70 years.
The monarch's speech is written each year by the government and sets out its policy goals for the forthcoming term. This will be Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's first State Opening of Parliament in office, since taking over the leadership of the Conservative party from Liz Truss in October 2022. Truss served only 49 days as prime minister and the last leader to hold office during a State Opening of Parliament was Boris Johnson.
This is not the first time Charles will attend the ceremony, he attended several during the reign of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and in 2022 delivered her speech to the members of the houses of Lords and Commons in her place as her "episodic mobility problems" prevented her from undertaking the duty herself.
Charles' appearance at the 2022 State Opening of Parliament opened him up to criticism which resulted in a mocking response from social media users and commentators. This was prompted by the optics of the then-prince reading the speech which referenced the ongoing cost of living crisis in Britain while sitting on a golden throne in the middle of a royal palace.
"Her Majesty's Government's priority is to grow and strengthen the economy and help ease the cost of living for families," Charles read from the 2022 speech.
"Her Majesty's Government will level up opportunity in all parts of the country and support more people into work."
In response, comedian Tiernan Douieb wrote on Twitter at the time: "Looking forward to Prince Charles delivering the Queen's Speech where he'll tell us all he sympathizes with the cost of living crisis as it'll now cost us all loads more to heat his homes."
Australian radio presenter Matt Smithson noted the bizarre optics of the event, which is broadcast live on British TV, writing: "Her Majesty's Government will help ease the cost of living... says Prince Charles from a golden throne in the Palace of Westminster."
The Palace of Westminster is more commonly known as the "Houses of Parliament" and features the chambers where the House of Commons and the House of Lords sit. The building is also classed as a royal palace with private apartments reserved solely for the use of the monarch, though they are used only for "robing" which in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and previous monarchs was the act of changing into their parliamentary robes and donning the Imperial State Crown.
In past reigns, the monarch has traveled to open parliament from Buckingham Palace in a carriage procession and has worn their robes and the crown to read the sovereign's speech.
Queen Camilla is expected to accompany the king on November 7, however it is not yet known if the monarch will keep up the old ceremonial traditions associated with the event, or if he will modernize them to fit the public mood.
One member of the royal family who is expected to be absent from the State Opening of Parliament this year is William, the Prince of Wales, who as a counsellor of state attended with his father in 2022 to deputize for Queen Elizabeth.
November 7 is the date set for the third annual Earthshot Prize awards ceremony, which is part of William's eco-initiative to identify, fund and sustainably scale-up businesses working to repair damage to the planet.
The awards are being held in Singapore this year, with William and Kate, the Princess of Wales, expected to make the journey to attend as in previous years, though these travel plans have not yet been confirmed by Kensington Palace.
William and Kate have not attended the State Opening of Parliament in previous years (apart from William's role in 2022), but as the new Prince and Princess of Wales they could have been expected to make an appearance in support of the monarch as previous holders of their titles have done in the past.
If William and Kate were to be in Singapore for Charles' first State Opening of Parliament—a milestone ceremony in any reign—it could prove internally awkward for the royal household as the young couple could monopolize media coverage.
This issue was pulled into focus by Prince Harry in his 2023 memoir, Spare. The prince claimed that Charles and Camilla resented William and Kate for taking any of the media spotlight off their own engagements, writing of his brother:
"He did as much as Pa [Charles] wanted him to do, and sometimes that wasn't much, because Pa and Camilla didn't want Willy and Kate getting loads of publicity."
"Pa and Camilla didn't like Willy and Kate drawing attention away from them or their causes," he continued. "They'd openly scolded Willy about it many times."
The royals adopted a blanket "no comment" position regarding Harry's memoir and the allegations made within it.
The date for the State Opening of Parliament is set by the government in consultation with Buckingham Palace.
Newsweek approached Buckingham Palace via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
