Britain Head of State Queen Elizabeth II has missed Tuesday’s ceremonial opening of the United Kingdom parliament for the first time in nearly 60 years, handing the duty to her heir, Prince Charles, in a clear sign of the looming transition of power.
The 96-year-old monarch usually presides over the pomp-filled event and reads out her government’s legislative programme from a gilded throne in the House of Lords.
But Buckingham Palace said late Monday she would skip the annual showpiece on medical advice, making the decision “reluctantly” as she continues to experience “episodic mobility problems.”
On her behalf Prince Charles delivered the Queen’s Speech from the consort’s throne, symbolically an inch shorter than the monarch’s sovereign throne.
