LONDON - The UK government on Thursday said the traditional State Opening of Parliament will take place in May, raising questions about whether Queen Elizabeth II will attend.
The monarch, who turns 96 next month, lays out her government’s legislative programme in a speech from a gilded throne in the House of Lords, in a ceremony filled with pomp and pageantry.
As head of state, she has opened parliament all but twice during her record-breaking 70-year reign, missing the event in 1959 and 1963 while pregnant with princes Andrew and Edward.
But she has been in fragile health since she spent an unscheduled night in hospital last October, and has cut back on engagements on doctor’s orders, including recently when she had a bout of Covid.
Buckingham Palace said only that her “attendance will be confirmed in due course”, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said the Queen’s Speech will take place on May 10.
The monarch, who turns 96 next month, lays out her government’s legislative programme in a speech from a gilded throne in the House of Lords, in a ceremony filled with pomp and pageantry.
As head of state, she has opened parliament all but twice during her record-breaking 70-year reign, missing the event in 1959 and 1963 while pregnant with princes Andrew and Edward.
But she has been in fragile health since she spent an unscheduled night in hospital last October, and has cut back on engagements on doctor’s orders, including recently when she had a bout of Covid.
Buckingham Palace said only that her “attendance will be confirmed in due course”, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said the Queen’s Speech will take place on May 10.
