The Queen broke royal tradition with her outfit at the State Opening of Parliament

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15th Oct 2019

When Queen Elizabeth II arrived at The Palace of Westminster for the 65th State Opening of Parliament, where she traditionally gives an annual speech addressing the House of Commons and House of Lords, she did so wearing a royal tradition-breaking outfit.

Accompanied by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, the monarch was seated at the throne, and while she was dressed in “Royal Robes” for the occasion, the absence of the Imperial State Crown atop her head was duly noted.

For what has been reported as only the third time in a total of 65 years, Queen Elizabeth opted not to wear the Imperial State Crown, which sat on display atop a red velvet cushion beside her as she gave her speech. For reasons that are not yet apparent, the Queen chose to wear the lighter George IV State Diadem instead.

The first time the royal went without the Imperial State Crown at the State Opening of Parliament was in 1974, when there were two general elections, as People reports. The second time was in 2017, when the publication reports there was a snap election and the monarch wore day dress instead.

While royal watchers have been left to come up with their own theories as to why Queen Elizabeth broke royal tradition, many have come to the conclusion that the Imperial State Crown, which features 2868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls, and weighs almost 1.5 kilograms, has gotten a little too heavy for the 93-year-old to carry on her head.

This may well be true, given that just last year, in BBC documentary The Coronation, the Queen confessed: “You can’t look down to read the speech; you have to take the speech up. Because if you did, your neck would break; it would fall off. So there are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise they’re quite important things.”

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While she may have opted not to wear the crown, there is no denying the George IV State Diadem is no less regal. The Queen accessorised the substitute piece with her diamond Coronation necklace, and a white Angela Kelly dress.

According to the royal family’s official Instagram account, ‘This is the 65th occasion on which Her Majesty has opened Parliament – every year of her reign except 1959 and 1963 (whilst pregnant).” No small feat.