The imperial crown and velvet robes were missing. So was the ride from Buckingham Palace to Westminster in the horse-drawn state coach. Instead, Queen Elizabeth, wearing the same sapphire-blue coat she wore at Princess Anne's recent wedding, drove to the House of Lords to open the new Parliament last week in an ordinary black limousine. The absence of spectacle was something of an accident; there simply had not been enough time to prepare the customary pageantry for the Queen, who had interrupted an official visit to Australia to anoint the election winner....
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
