Parliament Opened

In the inner courtyard of Buckingham Palace eight beautiful horses champed impatiently at their bits. The royal state coach--the magnificent guilded vehicle, built in 1761, with its red plush lining and its three genii of England, Scotland and Ireland supporting the imperial crown and holding the sword of state, the sceptre and the emblems of knighthood--stood under the portecochere. Postilions were mounted, and the twelve powdered footmen, dressed in the royal livery, were at their posts. A sudden bustle, the opening of doors, the trampling of many feet, and down the red-carpeted stairs came King George and Queen Mary. After they had entered the coach and the door had been ceremoniously closed, order was quietly passed along to the postilions and "the most superb carriage ever built" rolled on to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.

In the outer courtyard of the Palace a detachment of the Royal Household Cavalry (the Blues) were sitting at attention in their saddles and as the first pair of horses appeared through the entrance which connects the outer with the inner courtyard, a rasping order brought flashing swords to a royal salute. Somewhere in the background the drums of the Grenadier Guards rolled and the band broke into the national anthem. The massive main iron gates were thrown open and through them slowly passed the state coach, six footmen walking on either side. In the rear the Captain of the Household Cavalry led his troop and the small procession passed out into the Mall beyond the Victorial Monument amid deafening cheers from a million uncovered heads and the flutterings of handkerchiefs from the hands of the heads that were covered. On either side soldiers of the five Guards Regiments (Coldstream, Grenadier, Irish, Scots, Welsh), standing rigidly with presented arms, lined the streets from the Palace, along the Mall to the Admiralty Arch, down Whitehall, to Westminster.

Opposite York House, his London mansion, waited the Prince of Wales in his carriage, which fell in behind the Blues. Slowly, laboriously and with great dignity, the procession moved on.

Arriving at the House of Lords, the King and Queen alighted from the coach and entered the ancient edifice wherein the lords hold sway. Their Majesties retired to don the royal robes of state, after which they were conducted to the throne in dignified silence, surrounded on every side by berobed and beermined dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons and their bejeweled consorts.* Meantime, Black Rod/- had been sent to fetch His Majesty's faithful Commons and in due time they appeared to hear the King say why for he had summoned his sixth Parliament.

*Among the American peeresses present: Countess Beatty, Duchess of Marlborough, Viscountess Astor, Countess of Galloway, Countess of Carnarvon.

/-The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, socalled because he carries a rod of office which is of ebony surmounted by a gold lion, is an official of the House of Lords. His principal function is to act as personal attendant on the Sovereign and in this capacity he always is sent to summon the Speaker and the Commons to the Lords. If the King is present in the Upper House, Black Rod "commands," if not, Black Rod merely "desires" their presence--usually, in the last case, to hear Royal Assent given to a bill by a commission of the Lords.

The ceremony of summoning the Commons is of deep historic significance. As soon as the attendants of the House of Commons are aware that Black Rod is approaching, they shut the door in his face. Black Rod then strikes three times on the door. "Who is there?" demands a voice from within the Commons. "Black Rod," is the reply. He is then permitted to enter the House, when he advances to the Speaker and says: "Mr. Speaker, the King commands this honorable House to attend His Majesty in the House of Lords." The Commons then scramble off in the wake of Black Rod who is immediately followed by the Speaker and Cabinet Ministers.

The significance of this ridiculous formality: in 1642 when Charles I tried to arrest Hampden, Pym, Holles, Hesilrig and Strode for treasonable correspondence with the Scots, Charles in person with 500 troops behind him marched to the Commons, but the five members were not present and Charles had to retire. Indignant at the breach of privilege the House has ever since closed its doors to the King's representative in affirmation of its right of free speech.