Queen Camilla wore the state diadem for the state opening of Parliament

Here are some photos from today’s state opening of Parliament. King Charles and Camilla were in attendance, obviously, as they’re the ones officially opening up the parliamentary session. Charles performed his King’s Speech, which was written by Downing Street, and everyone dutifully showed up and listened to it. Charles wore the Imperial State Crown and the ermine robes of whatever. Camilla wore the George IV State Diadem, which was QEII’s favored headpiece because it is much lighter than the Imperial State Crown. Also: Camilla’s dress here is a custom Fiona Clare.

Does anyone else think it’s interesting that the Princess of Wales scheduled her Italian visit to coincide with the state opening of Parliament back home? This is an event which is on the schedule for years in advance, although Charles apparently asked to skip it this year because Keir Starmer will likely not survive as prime minister for another month. But still, Kate would have known that this was on the schedule. Prince William and Kate have been doing this a lot lately, scheduling their weird, random events to coincide with major events for Charles and Camilla, like the US state visit and now this. Of course, I also feel like it’s pretty notable that William didn’t attend the state opening of Parliament too. Another piece of evidence that William is Prince Sleeping It Off – he can’t get out of bed and out of the house before 3 pm, and he only works one day a week on average. But sure, he’ll make it to an Aston Villa game next week in Istanbul.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.