The State Opening of Parliament marks the beginning of the session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. All I can say is it’s good to see an actual formal event attended by royals in person, even one tinged with sadness.
Let’s just get the sadness out of the way first: the consort’s gilded chair was removed. The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall accompanied the Queen and sat in smaller chairs to the side of her throne. There were no ceremonial robes. Instead, the Queen wore a repeated coat and day dress. She traveled to the event by car, not coach. As has been the custom for several years now, the Queen did not wear the Imperial Crown. It was carried into the ceremony, with the other crown regalia.
Her Majesty may have worn repeats, but they were full of significant references. She wore a pale dove gray coatdress, from Ascot 2019. The gray is a traditional mourning color. The embellishments around the neckline added a nice, subtle touch of color. Her hat reflected the same color scheme. Although it hasn’t been confirmed (that I have seen) it appears she is wearing the print dress worn in this photo taken for the Duke of Edinburgh’s 99th birthday. She wore her 18th birthday gift from her parents, the aquamarine clip brooches.
The Duchess of Cornwall was in white, her go-to for formal state occasions. The outfit was enlivened with some taupe insets, and perhaps one of my favorites of her recent hats. I love that ribbon. She wore a sentimental callback of her own, the Queen Mother’s Rock Crystal brooch.
This is a nice new bit, some background on the Lord Chancellor’s robes. Pretty impressive, and these robes more than hold their own on such a ceremonial occasion.
The Lord Chancellor’s state robe in black damask features elaborate gold ornaments. Now decorative, the gold frogging and olivette toggles were functional and allowed the upper sleeves to be opened. Similar robes are worn by university chancellors around the UK #QueensSpeech pic.twitter.com/ZdMy7e5Yfn
— The Burgon Society (@burgonsoc) May 11, 2021
It was a pared-back, quieter ceremony this year, however, I think we can agree that it was still moving. Please leave your thoughts in the comments.