The Queen, absent because of her mobility problems, will be replaced by her son Prince Charles on Tuesday at the ceremony in the British parliament.
Le Monde with AFP
Queen Elizabeth II said on Monday evening that she would be replaced by her son Prince Charles for the traditional Throne speech in the British Parliament, Tuesday, May 10, because of his mobility problems.
It is the first time in almost sixty years that the monarch has missed this solemn meeting of British democracy, where she reads the government’s program during a ceremony with great fanfare. She was absent in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant.
It is also the first time that she has been replaced by the Prince of Wales, heir to the crown, a sign of the progressive transfer of his tasks to her eldest son, who already represents her abroad for several years. The queen’s throne will remain empty, Prince Charles, 73, and his wife, Camilla, occupying their usual seats.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Monday evening:
The queen continues to have episodic mobility problems and, after consultation with her doctors, decidedly decided not to participate in the discourse of the throne. At the request of His Majesty and with the agreement of the competent authorities, the Prince of Wales will read the discourse of the throne on his behalf, with the Duke of Cambridge [Prince William, grandson of the Queen, second in order of succession to the throne] also present.
The queen had already given up in recent years to wear her heavy crown for this highly codified ceremony which is to start at 10:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m. in France). His absence relaunches the questions about his participation in early June to the celebrations of the platinum jubilee, marking his seventy years of reign.
Reclaining disappointed voters
A few days after heavy setbacks in the local elections, where his party has lost some 500 seats, the Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, hopes by this speech to show that he is concerned with the fall in purchasing power and Forget the scandals.
On the political level, Boris Johnson will need to convince an increasingly critical electorate. Arrived triumphantly in power in July 2019, the conservative leader had already seen his popularity fall in recent months, against the backdrop of the crisis of purchasing power, criticism on his management of the pandemic and scandal of the “partygate” which earned him a fine , a first for a head of government in office.
If he has succeeded in saving his post, for the moment, in the context of the war in Ukraine, the bubbling of 57 years will try to win back voters disappointed for the two years that he has left before The next legislative elections. His speech will present thirty-eight draft laws.
His services confirmed the announcement of a bill in education “so that no child is left out”. Another, on public order, is intended to prevent the “guerrilla techniques” of groups like Rebellion extinction, honest of its base, which demonstrated by blocking roads or public transport “harming to the working hard, costing Millions of public money to taxpayers and endangering lives “.
Faced with an economy injured by years of pandemic and an inflation expected at more than 10 % in the coming months, Boris Johnson is committed to “put the country back on track” and to “pursue any urgency [their] mission of creating highly qualified and well-remunerated jobs that will stimulate economic growth throughout the United Kingdom “.
He also plans to announce texts of laws intended to alleviate administrative heaviness after the exit of the United Kingdom of the European Union (EU), which has become fully effective on January 31, 2020.
This set of draft laws, which he baptized the “super seven”, will allow the United Kingdom to “prosper as a modern, dynamic and independent country” by “modifying the old EU rules which Do not work for the United Kingdom, “he explained to the Sunday Express newspaper.
To be able to more easily expel foreign criminals, the government has also said, in recent months, wanting to modify the legislation relating to human rights which had integrated the European Convention on Human Rights in national law.
